Although drones striking inside Pakistan are now flying from Afghanistan, US personnel and drones remain at the air base in Balochistan, the officials told Washington Post, adding that security at the base for the officials and the drones was being provided by the Pakistani military.

The officials said that the drone launches were stopped in April 2011, weeks before the Abbottabad operation and after a dispute over CIA contractor Raymond Davis.

US drone strikes in the past three months have been launched from near Jalalabad in Afghanistan, officials told Washington Post.

The US has been using drone attacks to target al Qaeda-linked militants over the past few years in Pakistan’s tribal areas, a source of concern for the Pakistani government, which says civilian casualties stoke public anger and bolster support for militancy.