The U.S. military is using small spy aircraft disguised as private planes as it expands secret intelligence operations across Africa, The Washington Post reported late Wednesday.

The surveillance missions are part of a "growing shadow war against al-Qaida affiliates and other militant groups," the newspaper said.

Citing a former U.S. commander, the Post said about dozen air bases have been set up for the unarmed spy planes in Africa since 2007. The newspaper said they include sites in Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya as well as in the Seychelles.

The report added:

"The surveillance is overseen by U.S. Special Operations forces but relies heavily on private military contractors and support from African troops.

The surveillance underscores how Special Operations forces, which have played an outsize role in the Obama administration’s national security strategy, are working clandestinely all over the globe, not just in war zones. The lightly equipped commando units train foreign security forces and perform aid missions, but they also include teams dedicated to tracking and killing terrorism suspects."

The Post said that the U.S. Africa Command declined to comment on "specific operational details."

However, the command confirmed that it worked "closely with our African partners ... to conduct missions or operations that support and further our mutual security goals."

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Members of Congress have pushed more than $300 million in earmarks and other provisions to projects near their own properties, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Thirty-three members of Congress channeled the public funds into projects next to or within two miles of properties they own, according to the newspaper's investigation.

The Post said this is legal under ethics rules penned by lawmakers themselves.

The investigation into the holdings of all 535 members also revealed that 16 had steered federal funds to firms, colleges and programs where family members worked or sat on boards, the newspaper reported.

In one case, an Alabama senator directed more than $100 million in federal earmarks to upgrade an area near his office building in Tuscaloosa, according to the Post. Another representative reportedly earmarked $486,000 to build a bike lane to a bridge near a property she owned. (Click here for full results of the Washington Post investigation)