VIDEO and 3 Story UPDATES: WSJ and CNN report 8 US civilians killed in suicide bombing at US facility in Afghanistan
By LisaB on December 30, 2009 at 9:40 PM in Current Affairs
UPDATE #3: See The Los Angeles Times story, “Afghanistan suicide bombing kills 8 CIA officers,” for more details on the deaths, and the inexplicable ability of a suicide bomber to gain access to the compound. Here are a few bits of information from that article:
The attack took place at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khowst province, an area near the border with Pakistan that is a hotbed of insurgent activity. An undisclosed number of civilians were wounded, the officials said. No military personnel with the U.S. or North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were killed or injured, they said.
——–The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a message posted early today on its Pashto-language website. The statement, attributed to spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, said the attacker was a member of the Afghan army who entered the base clad in his military uniform. It identified him only as Samiullah.
The casualties highlight the CIA’s increasingly important role in Afghanistan, and come as the United States is embarking on a major buildup of its civilian workforce that parallels an increase in troop strength.
———The eight dead were CIA officers, the former official said. “They were all career CIA officials.”
The U.S. official said the bomber detonated his explosives vest in an area that was used as a fitness center.
CIA veterans were stunned by the news and at a loss to explain how a bomber was able to penetrate the security.
“It’s a forward operating base in a dicey area, but to get a suicide bomber inside the wires — it’s hard to understand how that could happen,” the former official said.
* Bumped Up With Note: Larry Johnson and Tyler Drumheller, both CIA veterans, were just asked about these terrible deaths on Larry King Live. Tyler, a friend of Larry’s, is author of “On the Brink: An Insider’s Account of How the White House Compromised American Intelligence.” We have video of Larry’s and Tyler’s reactions to the deaths.
EARLIER UPDATE: CNN reports the eight casualties were CIA employees.
A senior U.S. official tells CNN that the attack at a military base in eastern Afghanistan by a suicide bomber Wednesday killed eight Americans believed to be CIA employees.
———-Meanwhile, four Canadian soldiers and a reporter were killed when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, Canada’s defense ministry announced.
ORIGINAL POST: The WSJ reports eight Americans were killed today at a US compound in Afghanistan. Supposedly the compound was “associated with the U.S. Embassy.”
A U.S. official in Afghanistan would not confirm the report of a suicide bombing, saying an investigation is under way. The official said the attack occurred at a U.S. military base in southeastern Afghanistan’s Khost province and that all of those killed were Americans.
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan said none of the dead were soldiers and that the attack was not on a U.S. military base, but at a facility associated with the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. Embassy declined to comment.
Hopefully there will be more to the story later. But Obama needs to get off the links.
CNN finally has the story on the front.
A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest attacked Forward Operating Base Chapman near the district of Khost in Khost province, said a third official, who asked not to be named.
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There were conflicting reports as to whether the bomber walked into the dining facility or the gym at the base.
by Ronald Scott
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