About the Shadow Wars team

The Bureau's Shadow Wars investigation, a project investigating emerging trends in counter-terrorism operations by the US and its allies, concluded in 2020.

The global war on terror is becoming ever more diffuse, complicated and murky. Our primary concern with this project was to shed light on what this means for the civilians on the ground.

Shadow Wars expanded on our drones work. The Bureau investigated the US's drone wars between 2010 and 2020, following the drones hunting al Qaeda and its allies around the world. This work can still be found by clicking here.

The project was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Open Society Foundations.

The reporters on this project were Abigail Fielding-Smith, Jessica Purkiss and Crofton Black. Follow the links to contact them.

We also employed an Afghan-based, part-time reporter, who wishes to remain anonymous.