CIA Workers Killed By Afghan Suicide Bomb
Source: SKY News
7:55am UK, Thursday December 31, 2009
Eight US CIA employees have been killed by a suicide bomb attack carried out by a ranking officer in Afghanistan's army.
US soldiers on patrol in the province of Khost in Afghanistan
A Taliban spokesman said the "well-dressed" official was of sufficiently high rank to walk past security into a foreign army base in south-eastern Khost.
He then apparently gained access to a meeting being held by the CIA officials in the complex, where he detonated the explosives he was carrying.
Other people were also wounded in the blast, defence officials reported, but no US or Nato troops were among them.
It was the second time in as many days members of the Afghan army have turned on and killed the foreign troops and officials who are meant to be helping them.
The attacks cast doubts on the practicality of Western exit strategies that involve training up the Afghan army and police to a point where they can take on the Taliban alone.
In a separate attack, five Canadians - four soldiers and a journalist - were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a bomb in southern Kandahar province, the Canadian Defence Ministry said.
The patrol was hit on its way to visit community reconstruction projects about 2.5 miles outside Kandahar.
US President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 extra troops to tackle the violence in Afghanistan and Nato allies are contributing thousands more.
An Afghan army official said Washington had pledged $16bn (£10bn) to train the army and air force.
The CIA has been expanding its presence in the country, stepping up strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Forward Operating Base Chapman, the site of the suicide attack, is near the Pakistan border, in one of the areas of Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest.
The agency's role hunting terrorism suspects in Afghanistan has been criticised by both Afghans and human rights groups.
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