(The Hill) — A CIA agent working in southern Afghanistan was one of the two Americans killed by an Afghan suicide bomber in the latest “insider” attack against coalition forces in the country.
A senior U.S. defense official confirmed to the Associated Press on Wednesday the U.S. citizen killed was a CIA officer. Agency officials have not responded to queries by The Hill seeking comment.
The Pentagon identified the other American casualty as 24-year-old Spc. Brittany Gordon, a military intelligence specialist assigned to the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Both Americans were among the six individuals killed during the attack on an Afghan intelligence outpost in the Maruf district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan last Saturday, according to recent news reports.
The reported death of the CIA operative was the latest known agency casualty in Afghanistan since seven CIA officers were killed in by a Taliban suicide bomber in Khost province in 2009.