Latest news with #dronewarfare
Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Thailand adopts Ukraine-style drone warfare to strike Cambodian forces
The quadcopter hovers above a metal roof before releasing its bomb. Seconds later, the target explodes in a burst of smoke and fire. Last week, drone warfare spread from the muddied trenches of eastern Ukraine to the sweltering Thailand-Cambodia borderlands. But while the footage circulating on social media may look similar, there was a key difference. Ukraine's use of cheap UAVs was, initially at least, an attempt to create some kind of parity with Russia's vast superiority in men and material. Rebel groups in Myanmar also took an early lead over the better-equipped junta in the race to develop drone technology by turning commercial devices into killing machines. But the Thai-Cambodian border clashes saw a complete role reversal, with Thailand dominating on drones despite having a military that dwarfs that of its neighbour. The shift from being a desperate, ad-hoc rebel technology to a mainstay of modern military might underlines the revolution that drones have been on the battlefield – and should, analysts say, act as a wake-up call for the West. 'Normally, the narrative with drones is that it empowers the weak actor,' Marcel Plichta, a former US defence department analyst and expert on drone warfare, told The Telegraph. 'That's Ukraine holding off Russia, or the rebels in Myanmar. 'So without any context, you would think that Cambodia would benefit from this drone revolution. But to date, the Cambodians haven't really caught up to Thailand's drone capabilities.' Dr Rahman Yaacob, an expert on south-east Asian defence and security at the Lowy Institute think tank, said: 'Ukraine and Myanmar are similar... in that they use drones for a multiplier effect against their opponent. 'I think Thailand has been watching and learning, and now they've used drones to target critical points in the Cambodian forces. 'The first target is the command posts, and the second is the ammunition depots. Once you hit these two positions, it causes chaos for command and country. And once the supply chain is disrupted, the enemy cannot operate freely or launch country attacks.' Before Monday's ceasefire brought a halt to five days of fighting, Cambodia did deploy some surveillance drones. However, Thailand attacked its neighbour with quadcopters, FPV (first-person view) drones and one-time kamikaze drones, all sent to dominate the skies alongside more traditional weaponry such as F-16s. Most of these UAVs were likely to have been bought from US or Israeli arms companies, said Mr Plichta. But only last month, the Royal Thai Air Force successfully tested a new, locally developed kamikaze drone. Phnom Penh spends about $1.3 billion on defence, and its air force has roughly 1,500 personnel, 20 transport planes, and 26 transport and multi-role helicopters. In contrast, Bangkok spends $5.73 billion and has 46,000 airmen, plus 112 combat-capable aircraft – including 28 F-16s and 11 Gripens. Thailand's strategy also undermined some arguments in the West that drones are ineffective in jungle terrain. The latest conflict – which has so far claimed 35 lives – was centred on a disputed, heavily forested border along the Dangrek mountains. Mr Plichta said: 'There was this assumption – mostly from the West, it's not necessarily the view of Asian militaries – that drones wouldn't be useful in this kind of conflict, because of the density of the terrain [and] foliage. But clearly, that's not the case from the footage.' The five-day clash may well trigger a surge of investment in drones across the rest of south-east Asia, added Dr Yaacob, and could result in countries rethinking their air-defence systems. The Thai-Cambodian clash also reiterates just how quickly modern warfare is changing across the globe. Robert Tollast, a researcher in the Land Warfare team at Rusi, said the Thai military appeared to be 'far ahead of Nato armies in this field'. 'We're seeing the second state-on-state conflict, after Ukraine, where commercial multirotor drones are being used,' he told The Telegraph. 'The ramifications of this are stark for Nato and allies.' Mr Tollast said that Britain was taking delivery of a few thousand quadcopters in August, while America was looking at having about 10,000 this year. But in reality this is a small number – in Ukraine, 'these amounts would only last a matter of days'. As well as being behind on procurement, training and integration of these drones, the development of counter-drone systems also needs to accelerate. 'We're getting there, with exquisite systems like the UK's Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon, but a lot is experimental,' said Mr Tollast. 'The British Army and allies have been hamstrung by bureaucracy and safety regulations that have slowed training and trials for these systems. The US is in a similar position, but [is] planning to rip down a lot of the red tape to train with drones.'
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Metallica forces US Government to change Pentagon video
Metallica successfully had their song 'Enter Sandman' removed from a Pentagon video promoting drone warfare, as it was used without authorisation. The video, featuring Pete Hegseth, showcased Donald Trump 's executive order to "unleash American drone dominance." A representative for Metallica confirmed the song's unauthorised use, leading to the Pentagon re-uploading the video without the music. Metallica has a history of enforcing copyright, notably against Napster, and has previously distanced their music from military use. This incident follows a trend of numerous musicians, including The White Stripes, Elton John, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé, objecting to their music being used by Donald Trump 's campaigns without permission.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The ground shook': drone attacks help Haitian government wrest control of capital from criminal gangs
The earth beneath Jimmy Antoine's apartment shuddered and for a split second he feared another natural disaster had struck, like the 2010 cataclysm that brought Port-au-Prince to its knees. 'The ground shook like it does during an earthquake. You tremble like everything might collapse,' said the 23-year-old trainee mechanic, recalling how he and his panicked neighbours raced out on to the street. This time, though, the jolt had come not from deep below, but from high above: it was the detonation of a weaponized drone of the sort being used to hunt Haitian gang members who have hijacked most of the country's capital since the start of a coordinated criminal insurrection early last year. 'People had told me about drones … but this one caught me off guard … It felt like it exploded right where I was standing,' said Antoine of the 6am attack last month near Sico, the working-class neighbourhood where he lives. As Haiti's beleaguered government struggles to reconquer a sprawling seaside city now almost entirely controlled by the gangs, armed drones have become a key part of their arsenal. Since the drone campaign began in March, at least 300 people have been killed by the remote-control devices and almost 400 injured, according to a local human rights group called RNDDH. Videos of those attacks have spread rapidly on social media, painting a terrifying portrait of the drone warfare unfolding on the streets of one of the Caribbean's largest cities. One such video, which the Guardian identified as having taken place in a gang-run area called Fort National, shows four people – at least two of them armed – moving through an alley before being hit from above by an explosion. Blue and white smoke fills the backstreet as the men scatter. Another clip, posted on social media by a US missionary, shows an attack on an evangelical theological seminary about 2 miles south-west of Fort National, not far from Jimmy Antoine's home. At least one person can be seen sprinting for cover as the drone swoops towards its second-floor target and explodes. 'I have fond memories of teaching in the very classroom it struck,' Luke Perkins, the president of the missionary group Crossworld, tweeted in mid-June. Trevor Ball, a former US army explosive ordnance disposal technician, said the drones used in Port-au-Prince appeared to be first-person-view (FPV) drones. Images of one such improvised weapon were shared on social media in March, reputedly from the aftermath of a police raid on a gang stronghold in the Lower Delmas area. The Guardian was able to identify this model of FPV drone, and found it being sold on Chinese e-commerce sites for about $200, making them relatively cheap and expendable. Ball said it was not possible to determine from the images the exact munitions being used but it was likely the drones had either been fitted with explosives intended for commercial mining, or black powder – a homemade mix of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur that is used in fireworks. 'These tactics are used in other parts of the world, especially in the Ukraine-Russia war. Using first-person-view drones to deliver explosive devices has become extremely common there, and has been seen in other conflicts as well,' Bell added. One other video that surfaced earlier this year showed a targeted drone strike on a moving car less than 500 metres (547 yards) away from the compound believed to belong to Johnson André, a notorious gang boss known by the nickname 'Izo' whose gang is called 5 Segonn ('Five Seconds'). The car was driving near waterways reportedly used for drug and gun trafficking by the gangs. The provenance of the online drone videos remains unclear but many suspect at least some of them are being produced and released by a shadowy government-recruited armed group which has been enlisted to bolster the counterattack against the gangs. The aerial videos generally depict 'action shots' or the moment the drone strikes on a target, often edited and set to energetic music. Last month the New York Times, citing senior Haitian and US government officials, reported that the controversial Blackwater founder Erik Prince had been working with the Haitian government 'to carry out deadly operations against gangs that are terrorizing the nation and threatening to take over its capital'. The newspaper claimed American contractors, including Prince, had been hired 'to work on a secret taskforce to deploy drones meant to kill gang members'. Two experts said Prince had recently shipped 'a large cache of weapons' to Haiti and was seeking to recruit Haitian American military veterans to send to Port-au-Prince as part of a 150-strong mercenary force over the coming months. Earlier this month, Fritz Alphonse Jean, the head of the transitional council that has attempted to govern Haiti since its prime minister, Ariel Henry, was toppled early in the gang rebellion, confirmed that a private security firm had been engaged by the government. But he declined to name it or say how it was being paid. Jean argued it was impossible for Haiti's underequipped and underfunded police to 'face these challenges alone'. Perhaps surprisingly, Haitian human rights activists have backed the use of drone warfare to target criminal groups who have forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes and killed thousands. A UN-backed international security force, led by Kenyan police officers, has so far failed to repel the criminal advance. 'For us … drones are entirely proportionate to the level of weaponry the gangs possess,' said Rosy Auguste Ducéna, a respected human rights advocate who works for RNDDH in Port-au-Prince. Ducéna said her group supported such strikes against gang strongholds. 'Why? Because we consider the sophistication of the weapons in the gangs' hands, how those weapons are used to inflict suffering on the rest of the population – the crimes we know about: killings, thefts, rape, gang-rape, the burning of people's entire belongings,' she said. Ducéna thought drones were 'instilling fear' in heavily armed gang members and appeared to have such criminals on the back foot. 'We cannot dismiss the fact that these operations are having an impact on them. The element of uncertainty is also very important. The gangs don't necessarily know when or where a strike will happen, and we believe that's one reason for the drop in gang activity we're currently seeing,' she said, describing how the fear that has gripped her city's streets was gradually subsiding. 'Many banks have reopened, and many schools are open again. There is no longer the same tension as during the height of the insecurity … There is a glimmer of hope,' said Ducéna, although she voiced concern that the taskforce coordinating the drone attacks was being led by the office of the prime minister, Alix Fils-Aimé, rather than security officials. 'We believe [this is] extremely dangerous for democracy. A political authority should not be leading a team conducting this type of operation,' Ducéna said. Foreign human rights activists and specialists question the efficacy – not to mention legality – of using weaponized drones in a country which, despite all the bloodshed, is not officially considered to be in a state of conflict. 'I don't think it works. They haven't killed a single gang leader after three, going on four months of doing this, and we don't know how many civilians have been harmed,' said one expert, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. 'It just shows how absolutely desperate the government and the police [are].' 'I think it's a sign of desperation … It shows how desperate people are to have some sign that … something can be done to stop [the gangs]. That's really what it is all about,' they added, fretting that gang leaders might adopt the same tactics, exacerbating an already dire situation. 'What if they [the gangs] start shooting off drones? The escalation factor is also very worrying.' Earlier this month there were signs that gangs were already seeking to build their own arsenal of drones when three alleged 'terrorists' were arrested in the neighbouring Dominican Republic trying to buy the devices. In recent years both Mexican cartels and drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro have started using armed drones to launch attacks on authorities or rivals. On the ground in Port-au-Prince, many offer a more positive assessment of the aerial offensive. Last month, Belony Jassé, an 18-year-old high school student who said he heard drone explosions 'all the time', finally managed to return to the home that gangs once forced her to flee after security improved. The sound of drone attacks terrified the algebra-loving teenager. 'It makes you jump. It's scary. You don't expect the noise. You might drop whatever you're holding. The sound is very loud. It breaks your heart, it takes time to recover. It's heavy,' he said. But Jassé credited those attacks – coupled with an intensification of ground operations by police and vigilante groups – with the recent progress in his neighbourhood. 'I don't hear much gunfire any more. Last night I hardly heard any shots … This week I haven't heard any gunfire at all,' he said. The situation remained critical, Jassé admitted. 'But compared to how it was, I'm not scared any more.'
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's Uncrewed Surface Vessels Are Now Launching Bomber Drones To Attack Crimea
Ukraine is now using bomber drones launched from unmanned surface vessels (USVs aka drone boats) to attack targets in Crimea. This includes a high-value Russian radar installation on peninsula. The strikes mark the latest iteration of Ukraine's drone boat campaign that's kept Russia's Black Sea Fleet (BSF) at bay and damaged enemy military facilities in occupied Crimea as well as the Kerch Bridge. 'On the night of July 1 to 2, 2025, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces carried out a brilliant, high-precision special operation!,' the Ukrainian MoD claimed on X, adding that it destroyed three critical components of the prized Nebo-M radar system. The 67-second video posted by the MoD shows the bomber drones launching from the bow of the sea drones and dropping several munitions on the Russian radars. Ukrainian heavy drones launched from the marine drones bombard Russian radar systems in Crimea! Strikes were carried out on the components of the Russian "Nebo-M" radar system:•RLM-M 55Zh6M "Nebo-M"•RLM-D 55Zh6M "Nebo-M"•Radar Command Post (KU RLS) 55Zh6M "Nebo-M" — Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) July 3, 2025 The use of bomber drones launched from sea drones offers some important advantages. In March, we told you about how the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used first-person view (FPV) drones launched from drone boats against Russian radars and surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems. Using bomber drones gives Ukrainian operators the ability to strike more than one target per drone with possibly heavier warheads than FPV drones can carry. They can also travel farther while maintaining their connection, as they don't have to dive to the ground to hit their targets. As we have reported in the past, Ukraine also has bomber drones that can launch guided munitions with a heavier punch. This development was not lost on Russian military observers. 'The enemy shows footage of a drone strike with drops on our positions on the western coast,' the popular Russian Two Majors Telegram channel noted. 'A single (sea drone) snuck up, and drones were launched from it. A new element was the use of drones with drop systems; thus the enemy achieved several strikes from each UAV.' One of the bomber drones launched by the sea drone was reportedly later recovered by the Russians. The drone boat was later destroyed by Russian aviation, Two Majors claimed without providing visual proof. Still, they used this incident to seek greater resources for Russian troops in Crimea. 'They know how to fight this floating junk, controlled through Elon Musk's Starlink, in Crimea and practice it,' Two Majors posited. 'You just need to give resources to effective units ready for unconventional solutions.' The communications architecture for such a concept would include a satellite communications system on the boat, which they already carry and often multiple types at once, and a direct line-of-sight radio link from the boat to the drone. This would allow operators to control the drone in real time from anywhere, with the boat working as a platform to launch the drone and also as a relay and control node for it. Ukraine's drone boat campaign began with kamikaze variants, laden with explosives and set out on one-way missions to hit Russian targets. Ukraine has since made a series of advancements, turning these vessels into reusable anti-aircraft platforms, first-person view (FPV) drone launchers and even gunboats. As we previously noted, Ukraine's early drone boat attacks on the BSF were a 'wakeup call' marking 'a new point in unmanned warfare.' The lessons of its ongoing campaign have been noted by the U.S. Navy, Cmdr. Michael Linn said. In early May, we were the first to report that Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) used its new Magura V7 USV, armed with a pair of AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, to shoot down a pair of Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters flying over the Black Sea. At the time, all indications were that this was the legacy AIM-9L/M model, which seemed strange — more on that in a moment. But now we know AIM-9Xs were actually used. The Su-30 downing followed GUR's claimed downing of a Russian Mi-8 Hip helicopter over the Black Sea in December using an adapted R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missile fired from a Magura V5 USV, an earlier variant of the Magura V7. You can see the Magura V7 engagement with the Su-30 in the following video. World first: On May 2, 2025, the @DI_Ukraine special operations unit, in coordination with the Security Service of Ukraine and Defence Forces of Ukraine, eliminated a russian Su-30 fighter jet in the Black Sea. — Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) May 3, 2025 Beyond how the weapons were delivered, this latest attack is significant because of what was targeted. The MoD said it destroyed one RLM-M radar, one RLM-D radar and a radar control station. As we have previously reported, the potential loss of elements of the Nebo-M radar system could have significant impacts on the ability of Russia's forces to detect, track, and attempt to intercept various aerial threats, including ballistic missiles. The Nebo-M first entered Russian service in 2017. It is a multi-purpose long-range radar system. The manufacturer says it can detect targets out to a maximum range of nearly 373 miles (600 kilometers) and claims it has at least some capability to spot and track ballistic threats and even stealthy aircraft. From our earlier story: 'The RLM-M is a large, road-mobile 3D VHF target acquisition radar that is carried on an 8×8 truck, and reportedly has a unit cost of $100 million. The RLM-D, which is also carried on an 8×8 truck, is a similarly large L-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) air surveillance radar.' Both can be set up to feed targeting data, via the central command post vehicle, to various air defense systems, including S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. The location of these radars, on the western-most tip of Crimea, is also significant. Targeted as part of Ukraine's ongoing campaign to blind Russia, taking them out potentially opens additional holes in Russia's air defense overlay of the peninsula and the northwestern Black Sea. This could go a long way to ensuring the survivability of standoff strike weapons, like Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG, and other attacks, such as those by long-range kamikaze drones. Given that, Ukraine has frequently hit Russian radars and SAM systems here. It is unclear at the moment how many sea drones Ukraine is using to launch bomber drones. If the results of the attack earlier this week in Crimea are any indication, there is an incentive to boost this capability. It gives Ukraine another asymmetric weapon system to amplify its combat power. Contact the author: howard@
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘The ground shook': drone attacks help Haitian government wrest control of capital from criminal gangs
The earth beneath Jimmy Antoine's apartment shuddered and for a split second he feared another natural disaster had struck, like the 2010 cataclysm that brought Port-au-Prince to its knees. 'The ground shook like it does during an earthquake. You tremble like everything might collapse,' said the 23-year-old trainee mechanic, recalling how he and his panicked neighbours raced out on to the street. This time, though, the jolt had come not from deep below, but from high above: it was the detonation of a weaponized drone of the sort being used to hunt Haitian gang members who have hijacked most of the country's capital since the start of a coordinated criminal insurrection early last year. 'People had told me about drones … but this one caught me off guard … It felt like it exploded right where I was standing,' said Antoine of the 6am attack last month near Sico, the working-class neighbourhood where he lives. As Haiti's beleaguered government struggles to reconquer a sprawling seaside city now almost entirely controlled by the gangs, armed drones have become a key part of their arsenal. Since the drone campaign began in March, at least 300 people have been killed by the remote-control devices and almost 400 injured, according to a local human rights group called RNDDH. Videos of those attacks have spread rapidly on social media, painting a terrifying portrait of the drone warfare unfolding on the streets of one of the Caribbean's largest cities. One such video, which the Guardian identified as having taken place in a gang-run area called Fort National, shows four people – at least two of them armed – moving through an alley before being hit from above by an explosion. Blue and white smoke fills the backstreet as the men scatter. Another clip, posted on social media by a US missionary, shows an attack on an evangelical theological seminary about 2 miles south-west of Fort National, not far from Jimmy Antoine's home. At least one person can be seen sprinting for cover as the drone swoops towards its second-floor target and explodes. 'I have fond memories of teaching in the very classroom it struck,' Luke Perkins, the president of the missionary group Crossworld, tweeted in mid-June. Trevor Ball, a former US army explosive ordnance disposal technician, said the drones used in Port-au-Prince appeared to be first-person-view (FPV) drones. Images of one such improvised weapon were shared on social media in March, reputedly from the aftermath of a police raid on a gang stronghold in the Lower Delmas area. The Guardian was able to identify this model of FPV drone, and found it being sold on Chinese e-commerce sites for about $200, making them relatively cheap and expendable. Ball said it was not possible to determine from the images the exact munitions being used but it was likely the drones had either been fitted with explosives intended for commercial mining, or black powder – a homemade mix of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur that is used in fireworks. 'These tactics are used in other parts of the world, especially in the Ukraine-Russia war. Using first-person-view drones to deliver explosive devices has become extremely common there, and has been seen in other conflicts as well,' Bell added. One other video that surfaced earlier this year showed a targeted drone strike on a moving car less than 500 metres (547 yards) away from the compound believed to belong to Johnson André, a notorious gang boss known by the nickname 'Izo' whose gang is called 5 Segonn ('Five Seconds'). The car was driving near waterways reportedly used for drug and gun trafficking by the gangs. The provenance of the online drone videos remains unclear but many suspect at least some of them are being produced and released by a shadowy government-recruited armed group which has been enlisted to bolster the counterattack against the gangs. The aerial videos generally depict 'action shots' or the moment the drone strikes on a target, often edited and set to energetic music. Last month the New York Times, citing senior Haitian and US government officials, reported that the controversial Blackwater founder Erik Prince had been working with the Haitian government 'to carry out deadly operations against gangs that are terrorizing the nation and threatening to take over its capital'. The newspaper claimed American contractors, including Prince, had been hired 'to work on a secret taskforce to deploy drones meant to kill gang members'. Two experts said Prince had recently shipped 'a large cache of weapons' to Haiti and was seeking to recruit Haitian American military veterans to send to Port-au-Prince as part of a 150-strong mercenary force over the coming months. Earlier this month, Fritz Alphonse Jean, the head of the transitional council that has attempted to govern Haiti since its prime minister, Ariel Henry, was toppled early in the gang rebellion, confirmed that a private security firm had been engaged by the government. But he declined to name it or say how it was being paid. Jean argued it was impossible for Haiti's underequipped and underfunded police to 'face these challenges alone'. Perhaps surprisingly, Haitian human rights activists have backed the use of drone warfare to target criminal groups who have forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes and killed thousands. A UN-backed international security force, led by Kenyan police officers, has so far failed to repel the criminal advance. 'For us … drones are entirely proportionate to the level of weaponry the gangs possess,' said Rosy Auguste Ducéna, a respected human rights advocate who works for RNDDH in Port-au-Prince. Ducéna said her group supported such strikes against gang strongholds. 'Why? Because we consider the sophistication of the weapons in the gangs' hands, how those weapons are used to inflict suffering on the rest of the population – the crimes we know about: killings, thefts, rape, gang-rape, the burning of people's entire belongings,' she said. Ducéna thought drones were 'instilling fear' in heavily armed gang members and appeared to have such criminals on the back foot. 'We cannot dismiss the fact that these operations are having an impact on them. The element of uncertainty is also very important. The gangs don't necessarily know when or where a strike will happen, and we believe that's one reason for the drop in gang activity we're currently seeing,' she said, describing how the fear that has gripped her city's streets was gradually subsiding. 'Many banks have reopened, and many schools are open again. There is no longer the same tension as during the height of the insecurity … There is a glimmer of hope,' said Ducéna, although she voiced concern that the taskforce coordinating the drone attacks was being led by the office of the prime minister, Alix Fils-Aimé, rather than security officials. 'We believe [this is] extremely dangerous for democracy. A political authority should not be leading a team conducting this type of operation,' Ducéna said. Foreign human rights activists and specialists question the efficacy – not to mention legality – of using weaponized drones in a country which, despite all the bloodshed, is not officially considered to be in a state of conflict. 'I don't think it works. They haven't killed a single gang leader after three, going on four months of doing this, and we don't know how many civilians have been harmed,' said one expert, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. 'It just shows how absolutely desperate the government and the police [are].' 'I think it's a sign of desperation … It shows how desperate people are to have some sign that … something can be done to stop [the gangs]. That's really what it is all about,' they added, fretting that gang leaders might adopt the same tactics, exacerbating an already dire situation. 'What if they [the gangs] start shooting off drones? The escalation factor is also very worrying.' Earlier this month there were signs that gangs were already seeking to build their own arsenal of drones when three alleged 'terrorists' were arrested in the neighbouring Dominican Republic trying to buy the devices. In recent years both Mexican cartels and drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro have started using armed drones to launch attacks on authorities or rivals. On the ground in Port-au-Prince, many offer a more positive assessment of the aerial offensive. Last month, Belony Jassé, an 18-year-old high school student who said he heard drone explosions 'all the time', finally managed to return to the home that gangs once forced her to flee after security improved. The sound of drone attacks terrified the algebra-loving teenager. 'It makes you jump. It's scary. You don't expect the noise. You might drop whatever you're holding. The sound is very loud. It breaks your heart, it takes time to recover. It's heavy,' he said. But Jassé credited those attacks – coupled with an intensification of ground operations by police and vigilante groups – with the recent progress in his neighbourhood. 'I don't hear much gunfire any more. Last night I hardly heard any shots … This week I haven't heard any gunfire at all,' he said. The situation remained critical, Jassé admitted. 'But compared to how it was, I'm not scared any more.'
