The CIA has been accused of ordering the kidnapping of a former Pakistani intelligence officer, who turned human rights campaigner to defend al-Qaeda suspects.

The wife of Khalid Khawaja claims that her husband, who was once a confidante of Osama bin Laden, was taken at the request of the American intelligence service as he travelled through Pakistan‘s lawless tribal belt.

On Monday a group calling itself the Asian Tigers released videos of Mr Khawaja, and the colleague he was captured with, saying that they were in “Taliban custody” and demanding the release of arrested militant leaders. The kidnapping has baffled analysts who believe the two men were instrumental in fostering close ties between Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and radical Islamist groups.  Read more... (411 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. border agents spotted possible extremist links of the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner and had singled him out to be questioned when the plane landed, an administration official said.

In a routine check of passengers scheduled to arrive in the country, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was in a federal database of people who may have ties to terrorists and decided to interview him before allowing him admission to the U.S., the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.  Read more... (778 words, 1 image, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)

Britain has been accused of being a “menace to the outside world” as American anger over the UK’s perceived failure to tackle Islamic extremism intensified.

Senior policymakers in the United States said the attempted suicide bomb attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is thought to have become radicalised in London, was further evidence that one of the biggest threats to US security came from Britain, where the capital has been dubbed “Londonistan” by critics.  Read more... (536 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

Retired CIA Officers Take Swing at Obama Over CIA Torture Prosecutions

The CIA, reeling from the assassination of seven of its operatives in Afghanistan earlier this week, said today that its resolve to find and attack Taliban and al Qaeda leaders is “greater than ever.” CIA spokesman George Little would not discuss specifics of the Wednesday attack, the deadliest assault on the CIA since the 1983 bombing of the Beirut embassy. Little did suggest, however, that the loss would be avenged.

“There is much about the attack that isn’t yet known, but this much is clear: The CIA’s resolve to pursue aggressive counterterrorism operations is greater than ever,” Little told The Associated Press.  Read more... (825 words, 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a remote base in south-eastern Afghanistan was being courted as an informant and had been invited onto the base, according to a report.

The bombing , which came as President Barack Obama‘s surge is gathering pace, represented the biggest loss of life suffered by the US intelligence agency since an attack in Beirut in 1983. The CIA said on Thursday a further six agents had been injured in the attack.  Read more... (272 words, 1 image, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)

After Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father raised concerns about his son’s radicalism in November, Abdulmutallab’s name was added to an enormous list, and the CIA prepared a profile. The profile, however, was not shared with other agencies, including the National Counterterrorism Center.

Soon after, the National Security Agency intercepted chatter about al Qaeda in Yemen seeking a Nigerian for some kind of attack at some point in the near future. The National Counterterrorism Center had that information, but didn’t have much to go on.  Read more... (587 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

US security agencies were “insufficiently aggressive” in pursuing leads on the Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, President Obama will be told in an official report into the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day.

ntelligence agencies including the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) also failed to share key information about the would-be suicide bomber which could have prevented him boarding the Northwest Airlines flight carrying a home-made bomb, the report says.

Mr Obama has furiously denounced the “systemic” failures which allowed Nigerian Abdulmutallab, 23, to slip through the net. There are also widespread reports that Mr Obama has ordered generals to draw up a list of targets for retaliatory air strikes on al-Qaeda camps in Yemen, where Abdulmutallab was given explosives training.  Read more... (428 words, 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Taliban has inflicted a devastating blow on the CIA by killing seven of its personnel inside a remote Afghan base in a suicide attack that will seriously disrupt US operations.

The bombing, just as President Barack Obama‘s surge is gathering pace, represented the biggest loss of life suffered by the US intelligence agency since an attack in Beirut in 1983. The CIA said on Thursday a further six agents had been injured in the attack.  Read more... (670 words, 1 image, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Suicide bombing of mountain base highlights agency’s increasingly militaristic role in the region

The suicide bombing of a CIA base in a remote mountain region of Afghanistan this week highlights the agency’s increasingly militaristic role in the region.

The base was a key part of the secret US mission to kill militant leaders across the border with Pakistan using unmanned drone aircraft. Seven CIA operatives were killed in the bombing and several more seriously injured.

The blast on Wednesday in Khost province is the second most deadly in the CIA’s history, eclipsed only by the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in which eight employees died.  Read more... (543 words, 1 image, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — Secretive branches of the military’s Special Operations forces have increased counterterrorism missions against some of the most lethal groups in Afghanistan and, because of their success, plan an even bigger expansion next year, according to American commanders.

The commandos, from the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s classified Seals units, have had success weakening the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the strongest Taliban warrior in eastern Afghanistan, the officers said. Mr. Haqqani’s group has used its bases in neighboring Pakistan to carry out deadly strikes in and around Kabul, the Afghan capital.  Read more... (1147 words, 1 image, estimated 4:35 mins reading time)