The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has secretly been using an airbase in southwestern Pakistan to launch the Predator drones to attack the militants within the country, a report said. Both Pakistan and US governments have repeatedly denied that Washington is conducting military operations, covert or otherwise, on Pakistani territory.

But The Times report on Wednesday says that it has discovered that the CIA has been using the Shamsi airfield, 30 miles from the Afghan border, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan for at least a year.