Camp Chapman attack

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The Camp Chapman attack is a suicide attack by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi against the Central Intelligence Agency facility in the Forward Operating Base Chapman on 30 December 2009. FOB Chapman is located near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, about 10 miles northwest of the border with Pakistan. One of the main tasks of CIA personnel stationed at the base is to provide intelligence that supports drone attacks against targets in Pakistan. Seven American CIA officers and contractors, a Jordanian intelligence officer, and an Afghan working for the CIA were killed when al-Balawi detonated a bomb sewn into the vest he wore. Six other American CIA officers were wounded. The bombing was the deadliest attack on the CIA in over 25 years.

Al-Balawi was a Jordanian doctor and author of a jihadist website held and interrogated for three days by the Jordanian intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), in January 2009. GID and the CIA thought they had turned al-Balawi into al-Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas to provide intelligence for high-level targets. Instead, al-Balawi used this belief to gain access to an unobserved CIA base in Afghanistan and carry out the attack. The Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, saying they helped al-Balawi with the attack.

Video Camp Chapman attack

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On December 30, 2009, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi was picked up by Arghawan, an Afghan chief of external security at Camp Chapman, at the border between Miranshah, Pakistan and Khost, Afghanistan. Arghawan drove al-Balawi to Camp Chapman, arriving around 4:30 pm.

The car drove through three security checkpoints non-stop before arriving at its destination well inside the base. Sixteen people were waiting for a car near a building prepared to question al-Balawi. Al-Balawi came out of the vehicle and detonated explosives hidden in a suicide vest.

Nine people and al-Balawi were killed by the blast. Seven CIA personnel: five officers, including base chiefs, and two contractors. One of them is a Jordanian intelligence officer and another is an Afghan driver. Six other CIA personnel were seriously wounded in the attack, including the deputy station chief of Kabul. Some of those killed had approached the bomber to search for him, while the others who had died stood some distance away. At least 13 intelligence officers were within 50 feet of al-Balawi when the bomb went off.

After the attack, the base was secured and 150 most Afghan workers were detained and detained without communications for three days. The attack was a major setback for intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the second largest single-day loss in CIA history, following the 1983 US Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed eight CIA officers. The incident shows that al-Qaeda may not be as weak as previously thought.

Attacker

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi

Al-Balawi, 32, is a Jordanian doctor working in a clinic for Palestinian refugee women and children in the Marka refugee camp near Amman, Jordan. He is an al-Qaeda sympathizer from the city of Zarqa, the militant Islamist homeland of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He is married and has two daughters. Islamic sites, as well as some newspapers, characterize an attacker as a triple agent, someone believed to be a double agent by the intelligence organization he infiltrated.

Al-Balawi has a history of supporting the cause of online Islamist violence under the pseudonym of Abu Dujana al-Khurasani. Al-Balawi became a well-known administrator and contributor to al-Hesbah, an online jihadist forum. He has been trying to rehabilitate the image of al-Zarqawi in Jordan after the 2005 Amman bombing. Jarrett Brachman, former research director at the Center for Counter Terrorism at West Point, said "at least since 2007, [Abu Dujana has] become one of the most al-Qaeda jihadists stand out."

Al-Balawi was arrested by Jordanian intelligence in January 2009 and detained for three days. During al-Balawi's interrogation, Jordanian intelligence officials threatened to imprison and end his medical career, and they signaled that they could cause problems for his family. Al-Balawi was told that if he cooperated, his slate would be wiped clean and his family left alone. After this episode, GID and the CIA believe that they have turned al-Balawi into a double agent. A plan was developed for al-Bawali to infiltrate al-Qaeda in a federally-run tribal region in Pakistan, along the Afghan border. In March 2009, al-Balawi left Jordan and arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan, and walked to the tribal areas. The CIA took over al-Balawi's management of Jordan in the second half of 2009, dictating how and when the informant will meet his handler, according to current and former US intelligence officials.

Meet at Camp Chapman

Al-Balawi has been invited to Camp Chapman after claiming to have information linked to senior al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Balawi was not sought as a sign of respect due to the perceived value of being someone who could infiltrate al-Qaeda's senior leadership. A former US counterterrorism officer, as well as a Jordanian government official, said he had provided useful and actionable intelligence to the CIA for several weeks of disguise in the region. A former intelligence official stated that al-Balawi "fed us low-level operations and we hit them." He was seen by the CIA and the US government as the best hope for tracking al-Qaeda's leadership. The CIA has believed al-Balawi and the Jordanian spy agency to guarantee it, according to officials.

The deputy chief of the Kabul station attended the meeting, more evidence that al-Balawi is highly appreciated. The CIA "expects the meeting to be such a substance after their next directive meeting is to summon President Obama," a security official in Kabul said.

Statement from relatives

Al-Balawi's wife, Defne Bayrak, a journalist living in Istanbul, Turkey, has translated several Arabic books into Turkish, including Osama bin Laden: Che Guevara from the East. He said al-Bawali's radicalization began in 2003 because of the Iraq War. He doubts that al-Balawi worked as a double agent for the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence agency or that he was a member of al-Qaeda. Bayrak said that al-Balawi would act on his own accord because he regarded the United States as an enemy. She also said that she is proud of her husband. In his view, al-Balawi has done "a very important mission in such a war." Turkish police questioned and released Bayrak on January 7, 2010.

The Al-Balawi family is from Palestine, from a tribe in the Beersheba region. His brother said al-Balawi had been "transformed" by the 2008-09 Israeli offensive in Gaza, and that he had been arrested by Jordanian authorities after volunteering with medical organizations to care for wounded Palestinians in Gaza. Other family members say that al-Balawi has been pressured to become an informant after Jordanian authorities arrested him in January 2009.

Al-Balawi's father said he was summoned by an Afghan after an attack that said his son died as a hero in an operation to kill CIA agents. He also said his son "sacrificed his body and soul for the oppressed." He blamed intelligence agencies for turning his son "from a man, a doctor, into a person with a heart full of negative and hostile emotions toward others."

The Jordanian authorities warned al-Balawi's relatives not to talk to anyone about the incident. Family members said that Jordanian security forces had closed down the area where they lived, preventing journalists from entering and preventing family gathering after they heard al-Balawi's death report.

Victim

Excluding the attackers, nine people were killed and six others seriously injured in the attack. Seven people killed were Americans who worked for the CIA. One of them is the Jordanian case officer al-Balawi and another is Afghanistan responsible for external security for the base that has moved al-Balawi into a base from the Pakistani border.

CIA employees and contractors

The CIA did not initially release the names of those killed in the attack. All the officers at the base worked undercover.

The base of the base, Jennifer Lynne Matthews, 45 and a mother of three, began tracking al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks. Joining the CIA in 1989, he has a history in counter-terrorism dating back to Bin Laden Issue Station. A US official said Matthews was "one of the top US government experts on al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups." Matthews has been head of base since September 2009.

In addition to Matthews, CIA personnel killed include:

• Scott Michael Roberson, 39, head of CIA base security. Former undercover narcotics officer in Atlanta who once worked with the UN in Kosovo.
• Darren LaBonte, 35, a CIA case officer based in Amman, Jordan. He is the CIA handler for al-Balawi. A former member of the Ranger and SWAT Army team in Libertyville, Illinois before September 11, 2001. He then worked at the US Marshallals Service and the FBI before joining the CIA in 2006.
• Elizabeth Hanson, 30, CIA targeting analyst at Kabul Station. Economics major from Colby College.
• Harold Brown, Jr., 37, a CIA case officer. A former US Army intelligence officer.
• Dane Clark Paresi, 46, a security contractor. Retired Master Sergeant US Army, First Special Troop Group. In his 27-year career in the Army, Paresi was awarded the Bronze Stars, the Meritorious Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the NATO Medal. He serves in Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, Kenya, Bosnia, and Southeast Asia.
• Jeremy Wise, 35, a security contractor. Former Navy SEAL US.

Wise and Paresi are security contractors working for Xe Services (formerly Blackwater), a private security company.

The bodies of CIA agents were transferred to the US, and a private ceremony was held at Dover Air Force Base in honor of them. Former CIA Director Leon Panetta attended the ceremony.

CIA officers who had traveled from Kabul to base for meetings, including Deputy Chief of Station Kabul, were among the wounded. The deputy head is in serious condition and taken to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the US military hospital in Germany.

Non-US. casualties

Captain Sharif Ali bin Zeid, 34, a Jordanian military intelligence officer, was killed in the attack. He is the Jordanian handler al-Balawi and the liaison between him and the CIA. Bin Zeid is the cousin of King Abdullah II of Jordan. Bin Zeid's Resurrection was held at the Royal Palace. King Abdullah II and Queen Rania attended his funeral. The Jordanian official news report says that he died while conducting humanitarian services in Afghanistan. His death describes the US-Jordan intelligence partnership, which is rarely publicly acknowledged, but seen by US officials as vital to their counter-terrorism strategy.

Arghawan, 30, the security chief of the Afghan base base, also died. He had taken al-Balawi on the Pakistani border and escorted him to Camp Chapman.

Responsibility

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda praised the attack. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, said the attack was intended to avenge the death of three al Qaeda leaders and Taliban who were killed in a US unmanned aircraft attack. "He replied to our main martyrs, and when he wrote in his last will, may God bless him: Responding to revenge for the leaders of Amir Beitullah Mehsud and the leaders of Abu Saleh al-Somali and Abdallah Said al-Libi and their brothers, may God forgive they are, "wrote al-Yazid. Baitullah Mehsud is Pakistan's former Taliban chief, Saleh al-Somali responsible for al-Qaeda operations outside Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Said al-Libi is a senior Libyan member of the group, and al-Qaeda leader of the military organization in the region, Lashkar al-Zil.

Pakistan Taliban

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, a Pakistani Taliban umbrella organization, claimed responsibility for the attack and said that they used CIA informants to carry it out. Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the attack would avenge the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone strike in August 2009 and "Al Qaeda Abdullah." He declared, "The suicide bomber is a Jordanian citizen, which will be recognized by the CIA and the Jordanian government."

On January 9, 2010, Pakistani television network AAJ TV showed a video that had been released by Tehrik-i-Taliban. The video shows al-Balawi, sitting next to Hakimullah Mehsud, vowing to avenge the death of the Pakistani Taliban leader: "We will never forget our emir blood, Baitullah Mehsud, we will always demand revenge for him inside America and beyond." Hakimullah Mehsud succeeded his cousin, Baitullah Mehsud as Tehrik-i-Taliban chief after the Baitullah was killed by US drone attacks. Al-Balawi's father insists that the video shows his son.

Analysts say that, in return for organizational support, al-Balawi may agree to appear in the video, and to link his planned attack to the death of Baitullah Mehsud, thus raising the Tehrik-i-Taliban profile. Most analysts believe, however, that Al Qaeda chose the CIA as a target and run operations.

Afghan Taliban

Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the attack was carried out by Taliban sympathizers in the Afghan National Army. Mujahid said that "well dressed" officials will have a high enough ranking to pass security at the base. However, this claim has never been corroborated.

Maps Camp Chapman attack

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The attack came as the CIA expanded its role in the Afghan War, stepping up paramilitary operations, including drone attacks in Pakistan. To achieve this, the CIA has built bases in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

The unmanned drone attacks by the CIA in Pakistan rely on local informants, who can cross the border into Pakistan in ways CIA officers can not. The CIA officer at the base was involved in coordinating, targeting and supervising drone attacks aimed at the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Taliban of Pakistan and al-Qaeda. At the time of the attack, they launched an aggressive campaign against the Haqqani network, a radical group run by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.

The attack came at a time of disputes over civilian casualties between the US and Pakistan, and more of a counter-terrorism strategy between the US and Pakistan, is on the rise. Pakistani security officials have warned against the escalation of US drone attacks in the country. A senior Pakistani security official urged the United States to coordinate its response to a suicide attack with the Pakistani government, in order to avoid "unnecessary friction" against the alliance of the two countries, while a State Department official said that the US counting terrorist efforts "was coordinated with foreign governments, including with Pakistan, as needed. "

Redirecting Chapman Operating Base

Forward Operating Base Chapman is located on the site of a former Afghan army installation with an airstrip. This base is named for First Class Sergeant Nathan Chapman, the first US soldier killed by enemy fire during the Afghan war. Chapman was killed while fighting with the CIA in 2002. FOB Chapman is located near Forward Operating Base Salerno, a military base used by US special operations forces.

The CIA headquarters in Camp Chapman was established at the start of the US-led invasion of al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban in 2001. It began as a center for improvisation for operations. The military base at the beginning, then converted into a CIA base. Camp Chapman is also used as a base for the Reconstruction Team of Khost Province, a military-led development group. In recent years, the base has evolved into a major counter-terrorism center of the CIA's paramilitary Special Activity Division, used for joint operations with US special operations forces and Afghan allies. It also has a housing complex for US intelligence officers.

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AS. reaction

Drone attack in North Waziristan

The United States responded to the attack by increasing its drone strikes against militants in Pakistan. Almost every day after the CIA facility was attacked, the US military launched an unmanned drone attack aimed at Haqqani network leaders in North Waziristan. In the week after the attack, the US military carried out five unmanned drone attacks, an unusually high number. However, US anti-terrorism officials have warned against linking these attacks with the bombing. After reports of drone attacks, Pakistan says it will not support attacks on its territory, as they are counterproductive.

In March 2010, the death of Hussein al-Yemeni in an unmanned drone strike was announced. Al-Yamani is called a planner who is involved in suicide bomb attacks.

On November 1, 2013, the CIA killed Hakimullah Mehsud in an unmanned drone attack on Danday Darpa Khel.

Investigations and security measures

US officials said that the CIA conducted intelligence reviews provided by al-Balawi, checking whether he provided false information about US success amid valid data used to build his credibility. The investigation included a review of a list of senior al Qaeda and Taliban members who were reportedly killed in US drone attacks since January 2009. The National Disaster Management Center conducted a self-review of al-Balawi's intelligence, two officials said.

After the attack, the US issued a new security guidance to its base in Afghanistan, according to US military officials. A US military official said the guidelines would adjust the procedure as quickly as possible on a large scale.

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Political reactions and comments

US President Barack Obama praised the CIA officers killed in the bombing, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack. The seven members of the cooperative killed in the attack were immortalized with stars at the Memorial Wall agency at its headquarters.

United States

President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to CIA employees: "In recent years, the CIA has been tested like never before.Since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001, you have served on the frontline in a straightforward 21-century danger Because of your service, disturbed, American lives have been saved, and our allies and partners have been more secure.Your victory and even your name may not be known to your fellow Americans, but your service is greatly appreciated. "

The leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees issued a condolence statement.

The flag at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, flew with half the staff. In a message to CIA employees, CIA Director Leon Panetta said: "Those who fell yesterday are far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism We owe the deepest gratitude." published by Washington Post, Panetta greatly defended CIA officers against criticism, and denied that loose security measures or blind trust in informants allowed the attackers to succeed.

Islamist militants

The attack was praised by Islamist militants after it was learned that al-Balawi was a writer, under the pen name of Abu Dujana, of some of the anti-Western comments they admired. A militant wrote, referring to al-Balawi's alphabet: "Our James Bond, who is he?/He is Abu Dujana!/Motto: Let me die or live free!/James Bond us, what is he looking for? money,/But justice for the weak. "

Jordan

Jordanian intelligence officials were embarrassed by the incident due to the fact that they had guaranteed al-Balawi. The Jordanian government is also embarrassed, not wanting to work with the CIA. The Jordanian General Intelligence Department (GID), known as Mukhabarat, worked very closely with the CIA. At the same time, the US, and the CIA in particular, are seen as very negative by people in Jordan, about half of whom are from Palestine, as al-Balawi did.

Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai defended the country's overseas placement to support the war on terror in the United States, but the Islam-led opposition called on the government to stop working with the CIA. King Abdullah II, Queen Rania, and Crown Prince Hussein attended GID's funeral Captain Sharif Ali bin Zeid, as he was the King's cousin. Official media only reported that bin Zeid was killed on a "humanitarian mission" in Afghanistan, without mentioning the cooperation of the CIA.

Some media analysts were summoned by Jordanian officials and told not to make statements of inflammation. At least one local journalist working with foreign media was arrested and questioned.

Media experts and comments

Impact

Some former intelligence officials describe the attack as emotional pressure for spy agencies. Former CIA deputy director John E. McLaughlin said: "This is a nightmare we have anticipated since we went to Afghanistan and Iraq." Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown University Foreign School, characterized the attack as a serious reversal in the NATO war effort. Former CIA Counterterrorism Chief Robert Grenier describes the attack as a weapon guided by the Taliban. "This attack is something that will never be forgotten in Langley, Virginia," said Jack Rice, who previously worked as a CIA officer in Afghanistan.

Henry Crumpton, the former Coordinator of Counter-Terrorism who directed the CIA operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, said that CIA employees are "experienced front-line officers and their knowledge and expertise will be sorely missed." A NATO official in Afghanistan underscored the importance of the attack, noting that they have closed down a key CIA station in Afghanistan. "These are not people who write something on a computer or in a notebook It's all in their head," he said, adding that much knowledge would not be recoverable. However, some current and previous intelligence officials say that the CIA has many cooperatives with experience in Afghanistan, since the country was considered strategic during the Cold War, and because the US has been engaged in active warfare there for the past eight years.

Security procedures

A US intelligence official said the dangers of using the informant were inherent but unavoidable. Intelligence services must rely on individuals who are not fit to penetrate terrorist groups because no one else has access. The dangers will not be denied or ignored by CIA officers. Former intelligence officials said they were very worried about al-Balawi's ability to approach so many CIA officers. A former agency agent revealed the shock that "potential enemies" could be in close proximity to a large number of CIA agents. "Why would the officers show a single source of all their faces, that would be a bad decision," said a former senior CIA paramilitary member who served in Afghanistan. Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA officer and counter-terrorism agent, said that a source that should be as important as al-Balawi should never have been brought into base, because it risked exposing him.

Robert Baer, ​​a former CIA officer, said that the agency would outsource intelligence and had to go to Jordan "because we can not, because blue-eyed blond Americans can not get into these camps." He said the attack would make the CIA more reluctant to engage with informants. He added that the attack would be a major setback for CIA intelligence gathering in Afghanistan. "You're talking about institutional nightmares," said Tim Weiner, author of Ashes Heritage: The History of the CIA. Former 9/11 Commission chairman Lee H. Hamilton predicted that the attack would forever change the way the CIA handles informants. "They will never forget this lesson," he said.

Media reports and comments

Media reports said the attack struck the heart of the American covert operations in the region, with some features as the Pearl Harbor CIA. This raises doubts about the reliability of Afghan troops being trained by the United States and its allies, and on the practicality of a Western exit strategy involving Afghan army and policy training in order to enable them to fight against the Taliban on their own.

David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post and author of the Body of Lies, argues that the CIA has become careless because of despair. According to Ignatius, it is clear that the CIA will be so eager to gain insight into the location of Osama bin Laden who will take every available opportunity to obtain information. Shoshana Bryen, a US security expert, said the bombings would keep Israel and the United States alert in their future affairs with Jordan.

William Saletan noted the mischaracterization of attacks as "acts of terrorism" in many media reports. Because terrorism is targeting civilians, and CIA employees are waging war, he declares that the bombing is clearly "an act of war, it is also espionage, but it is not terrorism."

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In popular culture

Harold E. Brown, Jr.

• Ellement, John R.; Bender, Bryan (1 Januari 2010). "Pekerjaan korban adalah rahasia bagi kebanyakan orang". Boston Globe . Diperoleh 10 Agustus 2013 .
• Cramer, Maria (10 Januari 2010). "Sejak usia muda, petugas CIA tahu tujuannya". Boston Globe . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 .

Elizabeth Curry Marie Hanson

• Voss, Gretchen (2 Juni 2010). "The Spy Next Door". Marie Claire . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 . Â
• Boyle, Gerry (Spring 2012). "Siapa Elizabeth Hanson?". Colby Magazine . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 .

Darren James LaBonte

• Goldman, Adam (5 Juni 2010). "Darren James LaBonte, Petugas CIA Tewas Dalam Pemboman Afghanistan; Keluarga Berbicara". The Huffington Post . Associated Press . Diperoleh 9 Agustus, 2013 .

Jennifer Lynne Matthews

• Skalka, Jennifer (17 Desember 2010). "Silent Stars". Washingtonian . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 .
• Shapira, Ian (28 Januari 2012). "Untuk keluarga CIA, pemboman bunuh diri mematikan mengarah ke divisi yang menyakitkan". Washington Post . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 .

Dane Clark Paresi

• Bernton, Hal (January 9, 2010). "The CIA rewards the DuPont security contractor who was killed in the Afghan bombing". Seattle Times . Retrieved August 10 2013 . Ã,
• Francis, Mike (January 9, 2010). "Remembering Dane Paresi". Oregonian . Retrieved January 18, 2016 .

Scott Michael Roberson

• "Obituary". Knoxville News Sentinel . 4 Januari 2010 . Diperoleh 18 Januari, 2016 .
• Garrett, Amanda (2 Januari 2010). "Warga Ohio asli di antara tujuh perwira CIA yang tewas di Afghanistan oleh pembom bunuh diri, kata keluarga." Cleveland Plain-Dealer . Diperoleh 9 Agustus, 2013 .

Jeremy Jason Wise

• Sizemore, Bill (January 6, 2010). "The former SEAL who died in a suicide attack worked for Xe". Virginian-Pilot . Retrieved August 10 2013 .
• Shapira, Ian (January 18, 2014). "One Family, Two Sacrifices". Washington Post . Retrieved January 18, 2016 .

Further reading

• Warrick, Joby (2012). Triple Agent . New York: Vintage Books. ISBN: 9780307742315.
• Double agent: Danger and promise (Reuters)
• F.M. Begoum: Observations on Double Agents

Source of the article : Wikipedia