Camp Chapman attack

Camp Chapman attack
Part of the War in Afghanistan
Camp Chapman attack is located in Afghanistan
Kabul
Kabul
Khost
Khost
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Camp Chapman is just southeast of Khost, Afghanistan
LocationKhost Province, Afghanistan
Date30 December 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12-30)
TargetForward Operating Base Chapman
Attack type
Suicide attack
Deaths10 (including the attacker)
Injured6
Victims Central Intelligence Agency
Perpetrators

The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi against the Central Intelligence Agency facility inside Forward Operating Base Chapman on December 30, 2009.[1] One of the main tasks of the CIA personnel stationed at the base was to provide intelligence supporting drone attacks in Pakistan.[2] Seven American CIA officers and contractors, an officer of Jordan's intelligence service, and an Afghan working for the CIA were killed when al-Balawi detonated a bomb sewn into a vest he was wearing. Six other American CIA officers were wounded. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years.

Al-Balawi was a Jordanian doctor and jihadist website writer who was detained and interrogated over three days by the Jordanian intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate (GID). The GID and the CIA thought they had turned al-Balawi to penetrate al-Qaeda in the Pakistani tribal areas to provide intelligence for high-level targets. Instead, al-Balawi used this trust to gain access to the CIA base in Afghanistan unsearched and perpetrate the attack. Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility, saying they helped al-Balawi with the attack. After the attack, the families of the victims sued Iran, and won a judgement of $268,553,684 on March 22, 2023.[3] However, it is unlikely that the victims will receive any compensation, as the US Department of State noted in the case that "The United States does not maintain diplomatic relations with the government of Iran."[4]

  1. ^ Warrick, Joby. "Did Pakistan secretly fund an attack on CIA officers in 2009? Memo makes controversial claim". Washington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Lamb, Christina; Amoore, Miles (January 10, 2010). "How this suicide bomber opened a new front in Al-Qaeda's war". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. mirror
  3. ^ "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA" (PDF). storage.courtlistener.com. March 22, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  4. ^ https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.201886/gov.uscourts.dcd.201886.60.0.pdf [bare URL PDF]