Washington, Oct 29 (IANS): The White House on Friday confirmed the existence of US drones in Ethiopia, but said they are not conducting strike missions.

"The UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are not conducting any strike missions from Ethiopia," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing, stressing the aircraft were deployed in the East African country to counter terrorism and to promote stability in the Horn of Africa, reported Xinhua.

The spokesman was responding to a question about a Washington Post report Thursday that the US is operating armed Reaper drones in Ethiopia to carry out counterterrorism missions.

The drone base is located at the Arba Minch airport, about 300 miles south of Addis Ababa and about 600 miles east of the Somali border, the report said. This is within reach of standard models of the Reaper, about 1,150 miles.

The report came at a time when the US has been expanding the use of drones on counterterrorism missions, and have increasingly targeted al-Qaeda's affiliates outside South Asia, particularly in Yemen and Somalia.