FOB Chapman Identified as CIA Base (Updated 12/31/09)

Suicide bomber attacks CIA base in Afghanistan, killing at least 8 Americans

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer – Wednesday, December 30, 2009; 6:44 PM

A suicide bomber blew himself up Wednesday inside an Afghan military base used by the CIA, killing at least eight Americans in what is believed to be the deadliest single attack on U.S. intelligence personnel in the eight-year-long war, U.S. officials said.

The bomber managed to slip past security at Forward Operating Base Chapman in the eastern province of Khost before detonating an explosive belt in what one U.S. official described as a room used as a fitness center. The blast also wounded eight people, several of them seriously, U.S. government officials said.

It was not immediately clear how the assailant was able to infiltrate the U.S.-run post, which serves as an operations and surveillance center for the CIA near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. U.S. sources confirmed that all the dead and injured were civilians, adding that most of them were probably CIA employees or contractors. At least one Afghan civilian was also killed, the sources said.

While many details remain uncertain, the attack appears to have killed more U.S. intelligence personnel than have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan began in late 2001. The CIA has previously acknowledged the deaths of four officers in fighting in Afghanistan in the past eight years.

“It is the nightmare we’ve been anticipating since we went into Afghanistan and Iraq,” said John E. McLaughlin, a former CIA deputy director who now serves on a board that supports children of CIA officers slain on the job. “Our people are often out on the front line, without adequate force protection, and they put their lives quite literally in jeopardy.”

The CIA has been quietly bolstering its ranks in Afghanistan in recent weeks, mirroring the surge of military troops in the country. Agency officers coordinated the initial U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan in 2001 and have since provided hundreds of spies, paramilitary operatives and analysts in the region for roles ranging from counterterrorism to counter-narcotics. The agency also operates the remote-control aircraft used in aerial strikes on suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the lawless tribal provinces on the Pakistani side of the border.

U.S. military officials and diplomats confirmed Wednesday’s attack and the eight civilian deaths. “We mourn the loss of life in this attack,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

Before Wednesday’s attack, the number of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan this year had reached 309, the highest one-year total since the start of the war. Eleven U.S. military personnel have been killed since Dec. 1. (Click HERE for link to original article)

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Here is what CNN International is saying:

Attacks kill 8 purported CIA employees, 5 Canadians in Afghanistan

(CNN) — An attack by a suicide bomber at a military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday killed eight Americans believed to be CIA employees, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Also Wednesday, four Canadian soldiers and a Canadian journalist were killed when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle in southern Afghanistan, Canada’s defense ministry said.

The suicide bombing happened at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province, Afghanistan. The senior U.S. official who spoke to CNN said information indicates the bomber walked into a gym facility at the base and detonated a suicide vest. It is believed six Americans were wounded in addition to the eight killed. It’s not known how the bomber got past security.

A U.S. military source said that FOB Chapman was originally a base for the Khost Provincial Construction Team, but the team left some time ago.

Authorities believe that perhaps the suicide bomber attacked just after a convoy was ending or beginning, which would account for high number of casualties.

“FOB Chapman is definitely more than a listening post. You can land helos [helicopters] there,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the attack that killed the five Canadians happened about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) south of Kandahar, where the Canadian contingent in Afghanistan is headquartered.

“The soldiers were conducting a community security patrol in order to gather information on the pattern of life and maintain security in the area,” Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, the commander of the 2,800-member Canadian contingent, told reporters. “The journalist was traveling with them to tell the story of what Canada’s soldiers are doing in Afghanistan.”

Four other Canadian troops and a civilian official also were injured in the attack, he said.

The Calgary Herald identified the reporter as Michelle Lang, 34, who had been with the paper since 2002. Lang is the first Canadian journalist killed in the Afghan war and is believed to be the first Herald reporter killed while on the job.

The deaths bring the number of Canadian military fatalities in Afghanistan to 138. The names of the troops were not immediately released.

The deaths are the most Canadians killed in a single incident in Afghanistan since six Canadian soldiers died in a bombing on July 4, 2007.

CNN’s Barbara Starr and Atia Abawi contributed to this report. (Click HERE for original article)

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Taliban claims responsibility for bombing
December 31, 2009 5:33 a.m. EST

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Wednesday that killed eight Americans believed to be CIA employees.

In a message posted on its Web site, the Taliban said an Afghan National Army soldier detonated his explosives-packed vest, killing 20 people and injuring 25 others.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) Joint Command would not comment on the claim that a soldier was involved, saying the force was still gathering information.

The Taliban routinely offers a higher casualty count, accounting for the discrepancy in their claim and the official death toll.

Earlier, a senior U.S. official said information suggested a bomber walked into a gym facility at Forward Operating Base Chapman and detonated a suicide vest. It’s not known how the bomber got past security.

In addition to the eight deaths, the blast wounded six Americans, the official said.

A U.S. military source said that FOB Chapman was originally a base for the Khost Provincial Construction Team, but the team left some time ago.

Authorities believe that perhaps the suicide bomber attacked just after a convoy was ending or beginning, which would account for high number of casualties. (Click HERE for link to original article)