American Killed in Kabul CIA Office Attack

[High_Gravity]

Kabul Attack: American Killed

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan working for the U.S. government killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Monday, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets.

The incident marked the most recent in a growing number of attacks this year by Afghans working with international forces in the country. Some assailants have turned out to be Taliban sleeper agents, while others have been motivated by personal grievances.

The assailant in Sunday evening's shooting was killed, and it was not yet clear if he acted alone or if he belonged to an insurgent group.

A U.S. official in Washington said the Afghan attacker was providing security to the CIA office and that the American who died was working as a contractor for the CIA. The official requested anonymity because he was speaking about intelligence matters.

The CIA declined to comment.

Gunfire was first heard sometime after 8 p.m. local time around the former Ariana Hotel, a building that ex-U.S. intelligence officials said is the CIA station in Kabul. The spy agency occupied the heavily secured building, which is just blocks away from the Afghan presidential palace, in late 2001 after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban.

The U.S. Embassy acknowledged that an Afghan employee of the complex carried out the attack.

"The motivation for the attack is still under investigation," the embassy said in a statement.

Embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall declined to comment on what the targeted annex was used for, citing security reasons. Sundwall said the Afghan employee was not authorized to carry a weapon, and it was not clear how the man was able to get a gun into the secured compound.

The embassy did not provide information on the American who was killed, and said the person wounded in the shooting was taken to a military hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. It said the embassy has "resumed business operations."

The attack came less than two weeks after militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the U.S. Embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in Kabul, killing seven Afghans. No embassy or NATO staff members were hurt in the 20-hour assault. But it plunged U.S.-Pakistan relations to new lows as U.S. officials accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of supporting insurgents in planning and executing the Sept. 13 attack.

Nearly 80 American soldiers were wounded and two Afghan civilians were killed in a truck bombing targeting an American base in eastern Afghanistan on Sept. 10. American officials also blamed that attack on insurgents from the Haqqani network who are allegedly supported by Pakistani intelligence. Senior Pakistani officials reject the allegations.

Sunday's assault also follows closely on last week's assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading a government effort to broker peace with the Taliban. He was killed when an insurgent claiming to be a peace emissary detonated a bomb hidden in his turban upon meeting Rabbani.

President Hamid Karzai called Rabbani's death a "big loss" and said greater security measures should be taken to protect top Afghan figures, including religious clerics and tribal leaders. A government spokesman said the man who brought the suicide bomber to Kabul has been arrested.

NATO bases and embassies have ramped up security following a number of attacks over the past year by Afghan security forces against their counterparts. Since March 2009, the coalition has recorded at least 20 incidents where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing a uniform used by them killed coalition forces. Thirty-six coalition troops have died in the attacks. It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces were killed.

In December 2009, an al-Qaida double agent blew himself up at a CIA base in eastern Khost province, killing seven CIA employees. The attacker, a Jordanian man named Humam al-Balawi, had been brought into the base because he claimed to be able to reach high-level al-Qaida leaders.

Meanwhile, political tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to mount Monday. The Afghan Foreign Ministry warned that relations with its neighbor will suffer if cross-border artillery attacks hitting eastern Afghanistan continue.

The Afghan government has said that an unknown number of Afghan civilians have been killed by the shelling coming from Pakistani territory in recent days. The attacks have allegedly destroyed several houses and mosques and displaced hundreds of people.

Kabul Attack: American Killed

 

[RoccoR]

High_Gravity; et al,

This is no surprise. You might say, that the increase in the level of violence and targeting were almost expected. But I will say that the media is not making it easy for the American Public to understand - who is doing what --- where, and for whom.

Kabul Attack: American Killed

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan working for the U.S. government killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Monday, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets.

... ... ...

The U.S. Embassy acknowledged that an Afghan employee of the complex carried out the attack.

"The motivation for the attack is still under investigation," the embassy said in a statement.
... ... ...

Meanwhile, political tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to mount Monday. The Afghan Foreign Ministry warned that relations with its neighbor will suffer if cross-border artillery attacks hitting eastern Afghanistan continue.

The Afghan government has said that an unknown number of Afghan civilians have been killed by the shelling coming from Pakistani territory in recent days. The attacks have allegedly destroyed several houses and mosques and displaced hundreds of people.

(COMMENT)

It is not a new revelation that the Haqqani Network, with an old link to the dead al-Qaeda group (its arrangements today are not very well understood), was a "veritable arm" of Pakistani ISI (intelligence) (to quote ADM Mullen, CJCS).

You will notice, supra, that the US is a bit foggy on stating a "motivation." Well, that is not really true, about being that foggy. The message being sent is clear. The hostile opponents are sending a clear message that they are inside the protected perimeter of the Capitol, and can conduct operations at will.

The importance of this is not so much for the Americans, but more for the general Afghan indigenous population - nation wide. It says, if the Americans can not even protect the Capitol City, how can you expect it to tame the outer provinces and cities; especially with the coming withdrawal in December 2014.

Yes, the media is not doing a very good job in speaking plainly, and explaining who is what.

The Afghan expanded political-military adventure was flawed from the beginning. Other than for every single player to be living peacefully, singing "Kum Ba Yah", with no opium production and warlords a thing of the past, no one really knows what the mission objectives were; let alone now.

Most Respectfully,
R

 

[High_Gravity]

High_Gravity; et al,

This is no surprise. You might say, that the increase in the level of violence and targeting were almost expected. But I will say that the media is not making it easy for the American Public to understand - who is doing what --- where, and for whom.

Kabul Attack: American Killed

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan working for the U.S. government killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Monday, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets.

... ... ...

The U.S. Embassy acknowledged that an Afghan employee of the complex carried out the attack.

"The motivation for the attack is still under investigation," the embassy said in a statement.
... ... ...

Meanwhile, political tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to mount Monday. The Afghan Foreign Ministry warned that relations with its neighbor will suffer if cross-border artillery attacks hitting eastern Afghanistan continue.

The Afghan government has said that an unknown number of Afghan civilians have been killed by the shelling coming from Pakistani territory in recent days. The attacks have allegedly destroyed several houses and mosques and displaced hundreds of people.

(COMMENT)

It is not a new revelation that the Haqqani Network, with an old link to the dead al-Qaeda group (its arrangements today are not very well understood), was a "veritable arm" of Pakistani ISI (intelligence) (to quote ADM Mullen, CJCS).

You will notice, supra, that the US is a bit foggy on stating a "motivation." Well, that is not really true, about being that foggy. The message being sent is clear. The hostile opponents are sending a clear message that they are inside the protected perimeter of the Capitol, and can conduct operations at will.

The importance of this is not so much for the Americans, but more for the general Afghan indigenous population - nation wide. It says, if the Americans can not even protect the Capitol City, how can you expect it to tame the outer provinces and cities; especially with the coming withdrawal in December 2014.

Yes, the media is not doing a very good job in speaking plainly, and explaining who is what.

The Afghan expanded political-military adventure was flawed from the beginning. Other than for every single player to be living peacefully, singing "Kum Ba Yah", with no opium production and warlords a thing of the past, no one really knows what the mission objectives were; let alone now.

Most Respectfully,
R

I gotta say, their ability to strike and conduct attacks basically inside our embassy in Kabul is not a good sign. Afghanistan is so fractured right now, we are not fighting a united Taliban with a clear agenda, the insurgents are broken up into so many different factions, you have the extremist Taliban who will not negociate until all foreign Militaries leave the country, you have the "moderate" Taliban who are willing to talk with the US, you have the foreign Al Qaeda types who are just there to conduct jihad against the US and Afghans alike, than you have groups like the Haqqani network that smuggle drugs and act as the arm for Pakistani intelligence inside the country, conducting attacks against the US and Afghan forces. I think the Afghan war was underfunded, under resourced, under manned and just over looked for way too long. We allowed the Taliban and other groups to have years to regroup and re arm, and now we are paying the price.