September 26, 2011
C.I.A. Employee Is Killed in Attack on Kabul Compound
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
KABUL, Afghanistan -- An American employee of the C.I.A. was killed and a second American was wounded by an Afghan employee on the grounds of an annex to the United States Embassy here, officials in Washington said on Monday.
The gunman was killed, and the motive for the attack was being investigated, said Gavin Sundwall, a spokesman for the United Embassy in Kabul. The wounded American was evacuated to a military hospital for treatment.
The killing was followed by a barrage of gunfire from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. People who were near the compound said they heard an explosion before the gunfire began.
The attack was on a building used by the Central Intelligence Agency in Kabul, according to several Western officials, and is near the presidential palace. American officials in Washington confirmed that the person killed in the attack worked for the C.I.A, but it was not clear what position the person held. The second American's wounds were "not life-threatening," the officials said.
The C.I.A. has acknowledged few losses in Afghanistan. The last killings that were made public occurred in 2009, when a suicide bomber got into the C.I.A. base in Khost Province, killing at least seven agency employees, including a senior operative.
The C.I.A. station in Kabul, the agency's largest outpost overseas, is part of the embassy complex. On Sept. 13, militants carried out a daylong attack on another part of the embassy grounds, and top American officials have attributed that attack to the Haqqani network, which they say is supported by parts of Pakistan's spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence. A C.I.A. spokesman declined to comment about the latest attack.
The killing on Sunday followed the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president and leader of the High Peace Council. Mr. Rabbani's killing by a suicide bomber last Tuesday at his home was a severe blow to the government's attempt to negotiate peace with the Taliban.
Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting.