Quoted on Bloomberg.com, 1 Jan 2010

“CIA Workers Killed in Afghanistan as U.S. Steps Up Spying Role,” by Viola Gienger, Bloomberg.com (01/01/2009)

“This has to be one of the highest losses in a single bombing” in the agency’s history, said Mark Lowenthal, a former CIA assistant director for analysis and production. “To lose seven at one time, that’s a bit staggering.”

The Taliban claimed responsibility, Agence France-Presse reported earlier. The chief of the CIA base, a mother of three, was among those killed, according to the Associated Press, which cited former agency officials.

CIA officers operating from such a base regularly mingle with the local population as part of their job, so it wouldn’t be unheard-of that an attacker could slip through security, Lowenthal said.