America's allies in Afghanistan may be broad—but are they reliable? The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officers in an attack on a southeastern Afghanistan base was a Jordanian intelligence asset, and had been brought to Afghanistan to infiltrate al Qaeda there, The New York Times reports. The man began his career as a turncoat; after being in Jordan and recruited by the nation's intelligence agency, top officials thought he was an ally. Because he was considered an important asset, he was not thoroughly searched when he entered the base. Jordanian intelligence has yet to confirm this identification, though Al Jazeera reports it as a Jordanian physician named Humam Khalil Mohammed. The bomber's Jordanian handler was also killed in the blast. After the 9/11 attacks, Jordan emerged as one of America's most valuable intelligence allies.
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