meaning of 'pick up' in...

[Gepardu]

U.S. intelligence picked up on the group

is the same as: they observed the group?

[5jj]

More context would help.

[Gepardu]

Ok, it goes like that:

According to U.S. officials familiar with the case, al-Qaida had a hand in the abduction. His disappearance was followed by two years of negotiation and then a trade. The Iranian diplomat was swapped for key al-Qaida members, including al-Adel. U.S. intelligence picked up on the group in North Waziristan late last year — they reunited with al-Qaida and took up key leadership roles.

[BobK]

The useful thing about a verb like 'pick up' is that it means many different things - some of which - maybe - are not sources that the authorities want to admit to using. They observed the group, questioned other people, drew conclusions from monitoring news programmes...

b

[Gepardu]

Thanks for Your effort! That was a helpful information for me ;) Next time I will keep trying to be more elastic in my translations on the 'pick ups' and other verbs like that.

[SoothingDave]

I think it can be read as "they became aware of" this group. Think of scanning a radio. This is what the intelligence community is supposed to be doing. Then they "picked up" the existence of this group and began surveillance.

[Tdol]

I think it's becoming aware of/starting to learn about too.

[Kathleen Shuster]

Yes, it means they have become aware of them!
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Kathleen

[5jj]

Yes, it means they have become aware of them!
Check out my blog for more tips at [link removed]

Kathleen

If you are answering questions here, it is is better to answer them here, rather than just use a question as a chance to promote your site.

[britintheUS]

Yes, I would definitely say that the " picked up on" in your context that you provided would be that they "tracked" the group or "located their whereabouts".

Also, "found them out".