US intelligence officials believe that the suicide bomb attack that killed seven CIA officers in Afghanistan last month was planned with the help of Osama bin Laden's close allies, raising fears that the al-Qaeda leader is enjoying a lethal resurgence. They think that the attack could not have taken place without the prior knowledge and assistance of the Haqqanis, the powerful Taleban group thought to be shielding bin Laden.The attack was carried out by a Jordanian doctor whom the CIA believed was about to divulge the whereabouts of bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al- Zawahiri. It is one of the deadliest blows against the CIA and has increased tensions between the US and Pakistan because of Islamabad's repeated failure to target the Haqqanis.
The Haqqanis control a large block of territory on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border near the Afghan town of Khost, a Taleban hotbed near where the CIA officials were killed on December 30. It is also where the US believes bin Laden is hiding.
One former CIA officer, who did not wish to be named, told The Times that the agency had taped evidence of a Pakistani army officer tipping the Haqqanis off about a raid and a member of Pakistan's intelligence service boasting that the “Haqqanis are our guys'.
Pakistan has ignored US demands to target the strongholds of the Haqqanis' leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose father, Jalaluddin, founded the network and was a Mujahidin commander and ally of the US during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The network is said to be behind several audacious attacks, including the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul in July 2008.
Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit tracking bin Laden, said: “There is no way this operation would have occurred in Khost without the knowledge and active support of Jalaluddin Haqqani and/or his son. They and their organisation own the area and nothing occurs that would impact their tribe or its allies without their knowledge or OK. Both men, moreover, would be delighted to help bin Laden in any way they can.'
Mahmood Shah, who served as security chief of Pakistan's lawless tribal region, agreed: “The attack may have been planned by al-Qaeda, but it could not have been possible without the help of the Haqqani group.'
What has alarmed the US is the fact that al-Qaeda and the Taleban managed, despite an intense US bombing campaign, to mount an operation that wiped out the top CIA experts involved in the hunt for bin Laden. “It's a huge blow,' a former CIA officer said. “If you are Osama bin Laden, your biggest enemy is the CIA. This is a big hit.'
| Certainly makes Binny to be the stronger horse in the region, doesn't it ... |
| Thus demonstrating his 'bona-fides' ... |
| CIA is supposed to be better than this. This is slip-shod fieldcraft. I don't care how much you 'trust' the guy, you're supposed to trust no one and behave accordingly. |
Former CIA officials told The Times that the high number of CIA officers travelling from Kabul to meet al-Balawi reflected how desperate the agency was for information on bin Laden.
That al-Balawi came via Jordanian intelligence has proved deeply embarrassing for Jordan, exposing how closely the country works with the US in sharing intelligence and operatives on the front line in the war against extremists. The Jordanian intelligence official killed in the blast was buried in Jordan on Tuesday but the Jordanian Government refused to acknowledge his role with the CIA in Afghanistan. Anti-US sentiment is high in Jordan.