The United States has expanded secret military activities in the Middle East, Central Asia and east Africa to break militant networks, The New York Times said, citing a military document.
The move is to "penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy" Al-Qaeda and other groups in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Somalia, the document states, according to the Times.
Alongside those goals are efforts to "prepare the environment" for potential attacks in the future by US forces, the paper added, although a specific country is not singled out in the document for a possible strike.
Defense officials also told the newspaper that the secret order, approved in September by top US commander General David Petraeus, permits reconnaissance ahead of possible military action in Iran if high tensions over its nuclear program continue to mount.
The order is focused on gathering intelligence in the target countries "by American troops, foreign businesspeople, academics or others" to pinpoint threats, identify militants and forge "persistent situational awareness," the Times said citing the document.
By: Brant
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