Obama hails CIA employees killed in Afghanistan as patriots
January 1st, 2010 - 3:51 am ICT by IANS
Washington, Jan 1 (DPA) US President Barack Obama offered his condolences Thursday after seven employees of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were killed and six injured in a suicide attack Wednesday on a military base in eastern Afghanistan.
In a letter to CIA employees, Obama called those killed “brave Americans (who) were part of a long line of patriots who have made great sacrifices for their fellow citizens, and for our way of life”.
The Wednesday evening bombing, killing at least eight people, marks the worst one-day loss of life for the CIA since the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in 1983, according to US media.
Obama paid tribute to the CIA: “You have helped us understand the world as it is, and taken great risks to protect our country.”
Afghanistan’s former ruling Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the Pakistan border. A Taliban spokesman said it was carried out by an Afghan soldier.
CIA Director Leon Panetta, in a memo to employees, said “those who fell were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism”.
- Attacked CIA base was centre of covert program overseeing strikes - Jan 01, 2010
- Obama nominates spy chief Panetta for US secretary of defence - Apr 29, 2011
- CIA finds security lapse led to Afghan suicide attack that killed 7 agents - Oct 20, 2010
- Obama offers condolences over Afghan chopper crash - Aug 06, 2011
- Suspect in bombing of CIA agents killed in Pakistan - Mar 18, 2010
- Panetta set to be US Defense Secretary, Petraeus to be CIA chief - Apr 27, 2011
- CIA vows to avenge agents' deaths in Afghanistan with greater resolve - Jan 02, 2010
- Text of Obama's speech announcing Osama's killing - May 02, 2011
- Panetta effect: How CIA became more aggressive, relentless - Mar 21, 2010
- C.I.A. playing greater quasi-military role in Afghanistan and Pakistan: NYT - Jan 01, 2010
- Cancer of terrorism is in Pakistan, Obama tells Zardari through his NSA - Sep 29, 2010
- Pakistan would have jeopardised Osama raid: CIA chief - May 04, 2011
- Afghanistan seeks early security handover: Karzai - Mar 16, 2012
- Most victims of Afghanistan copper crash were US Navy SEALs - Aug 07, 2011
- US resumes drone attacks in Pakistan risking 'already strained ties' over Davis' fate - Feb 22, 2011
Tags: barack obama, beirut, central intelligence agency, cia director, cia employees, condolences, dpa, eastern afghanistan, khost, leon panetta, military base, pakistan border, patriots, sacrifices, suicide attack, taliban, taliban spokesman, us embassy in beirut, way of life, wednesday evening