The CIA and US special forces are carrying out a secret campaign using armed drones to target and kill leaders of the so-called ’Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group in Syria

The CIA and US special forces are carrying out a secret campaign using armed drones to target and kill leaders of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group in Syria, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The clandestine program is separate from America's wider military operations against ISIL militants, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed US officials.

Among those so far killed is Junaid Hussain, a hacker from Britain who the Pentagon said was recruiting ISIL sympathizers to carry out lone wolf attacks in the West.

Officials told The Post that the drone program has only resulted in a handful of strikes, which are being carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The CIA's main role in the operation is identifying and locating senior ISIL leaders.

The officials said the program was focusing on "high value targets."

A decision to use the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorism Center (CTC) and JSOC in the operation reflects rising anxiety about the spread of ISIL armed terrorists, the Post reported.

The CTC led the hunt for Osama bin Laden and JSOC includes the elite Navy SEAL team that carried out the mission to kill the former Al-Qaeda leader in 2011.

Drone strikes are politically contentious in Washington and US President Barack Obama wants the CIA to return to its core activity of spying, and away from paramilitary actions. Instead, he wants the Pentagon to take over the drone strikes.