Kabul, Jan 7 (IANS/AKI) The suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents at a US base in Afghanistan was “revenge” for deadly US drone strikes in Pakistan, Al Qaeda said Thursday.
A Jordanian identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who has since been identified as a double agent, blew himself up at the base in Khost on Dec 30 last in the deadliest attack against the CIA since 1983.

The head of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said quoting the bomber’s will that the attack was revenge for “our righteous martyrs” and named top militants killed in US drone attacks, the US monitoring group SITE said.

Among the officials he named was Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan’s Taliban blamed for a wave of deadly attacks including the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. Mehsud was killed when a US drone attack targeted his father-in-law’s house in August last year.

Another militant named was Abu Saleh al-Somali, an Al Qaeda militant responsible for plotting attacks in Europe and the US, killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan in December.

The Al Qaeda statement was released as fresh US drone strikes killed at least 17 militants near Pakistan’s Afghan border Wednesday.

–IANS/AKI

hv/dg