Here is the attack noted in the HRC email
Taliban suicide attack kills CIA agents at US outpost in Afghanistan
Daniel Nasaw in Washington
Thu 31 Dec 2009 14.54 EST First published on Thu 31 Dec 2009 14.54 EST
The CIA yesterday vowed to avenge the deaths of seven of its agents who were killed in a suicide bombing on Wednesday in Afghanistan, as it emerged that the bomber may have been invited on to the base as a potential informant according to two former US officials.
"This attack will be avenged through successful, aggressive counterterrorism operations," a US intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.
One former senior intelligence official said the bomber was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp. An experienced CIA debriefer came from Kabul for the meeting, suggesting the purpose was to gain intelligence, the official said. The former intelligence official and another former official with knowledge of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Seven agents died, including the base's female chief, a mother of three, former CIA officials told AP. Six others were injured in the attack on Forward Operating Base Chapman in eastern Afghanistan, near Khost. One of the dead was reported to be Harold Brown Jr, according to his father, Harold Brown Sr. The elder Brown said Thursday that his 37-year-old son, who grew up in Bolton, Massachussetts, served in the army and worked for the state department. He is survived by a wife and three children ages 12, 10 and 2.
The CIA would not confirm the details, and said it was still gathering evidence. "It's far too early to draw conclusions about something that happened just yesterday," said spokesman George Little.
A separate US official suggested the bomber may have set off the explosives as he was about to be searched.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in a strike that illustrates their growing reach and military capability.
Former CIA officers said the dead agents were part of a paramilitary unit, probably involved in training Afghans in security roles and carrying out military operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants along the Pakistan border.
The attack took place at a military outpost about 12 miles from the tribal areas of Pakistan, a Taliban stronghold.
In a letter to CIA employees, Barack Obama said their fallen colleagues came from a "long line of patriots" who had helped to keep the nation safe despite grave risks. Obama acknowledged that the spy agency has been tested "as never before" since the 9/11 attacks.
Larry Johnson, a counter-terrorism consultant and former CIA officer, said the incident was probably the agency's biggest loss of life since a CIA station in Beirut was bombed in 1983. Seventeen agency employees died in the Beirut attack.
The attack occured inside the gym at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province, in eastern Afghanistan. The base had been used to house a provincial reconstruction team providing humanitarian aid to the local Afghan population.
The Taliban claimed the attacker was a sympathiser in the Afghan army who detonated a vest of explosives at a meeting with CIA workers. "This deadly attack was carried out by a valiant Afghan army member," a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters.
A spokesman for Nato said Afghan security forces were working at the base, but denied that any Afghan troops were involved in the attack and none were stationed at the site. But Johnson said the Taliban's account was not impossible, noting that North Vietnamese agents infiltrated US intelligence operations during the Vietnam war.
"I'm surprised we haven't lost more CIA officers over the last eight years. This probably will happen again," he said.
If the attacker was indeed an Afghan army member, it illustrates a major risk in Obama's strategy for the country, which relies on training the Afghan police and military to take over security duties from Nato forces. The infiltration would raise questions about the loyalty of Afghan forces, and shows insurgents' ability to strike inside supposedly secure installations.
Obama this month announced the swift deployment of an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan, bringing the American force to about 100,000 by the summer. That number does not include the large number of US government civilians and contractors working in economic development and training roles. In addition, a significant number of private security contractors and intelligence agents work in Afghanistan on paramilitary operations, including launching drones into the neighbouring Pakistani tribal areas.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/31/taliban-cia-agents-killed-afghanistan