Al-Qaeda Terrorist says CIA attack 'revenge' for drone killings

KABUL — Al-Qaeda hailed the suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan as "revenge" for the deaths of top militants in US drone strikes in Pakistan, Islamist websites said on Thursday.

A Jordanian doctor said to have been a triple agent blew himself up at a US military base in Khost near the Pakistani border on December 30, the deadliest attack against the CIA since 1983.The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility a day later. A Pakistani Taliban commander subsequently claimed his faction carried out the attack to avenge the drone attacks that killed its founder, Baitullah Mehsud, last August.The head of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, said the bomber wrote in his will that the attack was revenge for "our righteous martyrs" and named several top militants killed in drone attacks in Pakistan.Yazid described bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi's mission as an "epic breakthrough" in penetrating both American and Jordanian intelligence, said Islamist websites.The slain militant masterminds named in the message included Mehsud, who was blamed for a wave of deadly attacks, notably the December 2007 killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.Also named was Abu Saleh al-Somali, described as part of Al-Qaeda's core leadership and responsible for plotting attacks in Europe and the United States. He was killed in a drone strike near the Afghan border last month...more...http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDamlGwkbMGUR8z4VYR13Yxyvu5Q