Incident Summary:
12/30/2009: On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed seven CIA operatives and one Jordanian intelligence officer when he blew himself up at a meeting at the CIA's Forward Operating Base Chapman in the southeastern province of Khost, Afghanistan. The attacker was identified as Humam Khalil Abu Mulal Al Balawi and had been arrested by Jordanian intelligence more than a year ago on suspicion of extremist sympathies. He was then recruited by the Jordanian intelligence service and taken to Afghanistan to infiltrate Al Qaeda by posing as a foreign jihadi. Balawi had been was invited to the remote base after offering urgent information to help locate Ayman Al Zawahiri. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the CIA base. Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud said in an e-mail that his arm of the Islamic movement carried out the attack, using a Jordanian national. Mehsud's message predicted, "This will be admitted by the CIA and the Jordanian government."
Overview
GTD ID:
200912300014
When:
2009-12-30
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Khost
City:
Khost
Location Details:
The suicide attack took place at the CIA's Forward Operating Base Chapman in the province of Khost, Afghanistan.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Central Intelligence Agency |
Specific Description |
The target of the attack were CIA operatives in a base in Afghanistan. |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Weapon Details |
An improvised explosive device was used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud claimed responsiblity for the attack. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
10 Fatalities / 6 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
10 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
7 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
6 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
6 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
New York Times, "Attacker in Afghanistan Was Double Agent," LexisNexis Academic, New York Times, January 4, 2010. |
The Guardian, "Bomber who Killed CIA Operatives in Afghanistan was Triple Agent," http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/04/afghanistan-cia-bomber-triple-agent (January 4, 2010). |
CNN (Cable News Network), "Jordanian Doctor Called Double Agent Behind CIA Attack, LexisNexis Academic, CNN (Cable News Network), January 5, 2010. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties