CIA cuts contract with Blackwater for US drones

Employees of the controversial private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide will no longer participate in CIA missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the New York Times reported.

Employees of the controversial private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide will no longer participate in CIA missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the New York Times reported.

Employees of the firm now known as Xe Services had been involved in loading bombs on unmanned drones that have targeted Al Qaeda and Taliban targets, but CIA Director Leon Panetta cancelled the contract earlier this year.

A CIA spokesman told the newspaper that the agency was reexamining all its contracts with the company.

The private company with 40,000 employees had come under heavy scrutiny for its work in Iraq, where a shootout in 2007 left 17 people dead and prompted the Iraqi government to not renew the company's operating license.

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