Chemical analysis links ISI to CIA killings in Khost - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The chemical fingerprint of the bomb used by the Jordanian double agent that killed seven Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers at a US base in Khost Province of Afghanistan last week reportedly matches the kind produced by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to the Daily Beast, early evidence in the December 30 bombing suggests a link to Pakistan, and the chemical fingerprint of the bomb matches an explosive type used by ISI. "It is not possible that the Jordanian double agent received that type of explosive without the help of ISI. The problem is that CIA trusted a Jordanian, but not the Afghan operatives we offer to them. If the U.S. forces recruit, they must recruit Afghans who do not have family members in Pakistan," the website quoted a senior Government aide to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, as saying. Meanwhile, the CIA has declined to comment on the accusation of a possible ISI role. Seven CIA operatives, including the chief of the base, an officer of Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate and the Afghan base security chief at the base were killed and six others were seriously wounded in the attack. Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, and the attacker was identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor. While the CIA thought that al-Balawi would be an important informant, who could help the intelligence agency to capture top leaders of the Taliban and of al-Qaeda, he actually was loyal to Islamist extremists. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years, and a major setback for the agency's operations in the region.