Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi

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Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi
همام خليل أبو ملال البلاوي
Born
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi

(1977-12-25)25 December 1977
Kuwait
Died30 December 2009(2009-12-30) (aged 32)
Forward Operating Base Chapman, Khost Province, Afghanistan
Cause of deathSuicide bombing
NationalityJordanian
CitizenshipJordan
EducationMedicine
OccupationPhysician
Years active2002–2009
Known forCamp Chapman attack
Spouse(s)Defne Bayrak
Children2
Parent(s)Khalil al-Balawi (father)
Military career
Allegiance
Battles/warsWar on terror

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (Arabic: همام خليل أبو ملال البلاوي; 25 December 1977 – 30 December 2009), also known by his online pseudonym Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, was a Jordanian physician who carried out a suicide bombing at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province, Afghanistan, on 30 December 2009.[1][2] The attack killed seven Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers and contractors, a Jordanian intelligence officer, and an Afghan working for the CIA, making it the deadliest attack against the CIA in more than 25 years.[3][4]

Al-Balawi had been recruited by Jordanian intelligence and the CIA as a double agent to infiltrate al-Qaeda and provide intelligence on high-value targets, including Ayman al-Zawahiri.[5][4] Instead, he turned against his handlers and used their trust to gain access to the CIA base, where he detonated a bomb sewn into his vest.[3][4] The attack was claimed by both al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.[4][3]

Early life and education[edit | edit source]

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi was born on 25 December 1977 in Kuwait to a Palestinian family.[2][6] His family moved to Jordan in 1990, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.[6] He grew up in Zarqa, a city east of Amman that has been a stronghold of radical Islam and was also the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the slain leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.[2][6]

Al-Balawi studied medicine in Turkey and returned to Jordan in 2002 with a medical degree.[2] He worked as a pediatrician at a clinic for Palestinian refugee women and children in the Marka refugee camp near Amman.[6] He was married to Defne Bayrak, a Turkish woman, and had two daughters.[6][7]

Radicalization[edit | edit source]

According to relatives and friends, al-Balawi began to embrace radical Islam after returning to Jordan in 2002, when he started writing poetic and passionate posts on jihadist websites under the pseudonym Abu Dujana al-Khorasani.[2] His writings expressed a growing impatience with not acting on his beliefs. In one web posting, he wrote: "When will my words drink from my blood... I feel my words have expired, and to those who preach jihad, I advise you not to fall into my dilemma and the nightmare I have that I may die one day in my bed."[2]

His radicalization was influenced by what he saw as Israeli brutality against the Palestinians, particularly during Israel's invasion of Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009.[8] In one message, he stated: "I never wanted to be in Gaza more than now or to become a suicide bomber who would drive a taxi that would take as many Jews to hell as I can."[2] He also idolized Osama bin Laden, whom he revered as a man who symbolized the true jihadist.[2]

A 2010 academic study distinguished two phases in al-Balawi's radicalization: a "radicalization of opinion" during his life in Jordan from 2002 to 2009, and a "radicalization of action" in Pakistan between March and December 2009.[7] The study noted that his online identity as a warrior, Abu Dujana, played a key role in his turn to violent action.[7]

Double agent[edit | edit source]

Al-Balawi was arrested by Jordanian intelligence over a year before the attack.[5] He was detained and interrogated over three days by the General Intelligence Directorate (GID).[3] The GID and the CIA believed they had successfully "turned" al-Balawi and recruited him as a double agent to penetrate al-Qaeda in the Pakistani tribal areas.[4][3] His specific mission was reportedly to track down al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.[5][4]

According to Western intelligence officials, al-Balawi provided "actionable intelligence" during several weeks of undercover work along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which allowed him to gain the trust of both the Jordanian intelligence service and the CIA.[6] A former US counter-terrorism officer told The Washington Post that al-Balawi had been someone "who had already worked with us."[6]

However, al-Balawi had not actually been turned. He was a triple agent who was still loyal to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.[9] A Taliban spokesman quoted on Al Jazeera's website stated that al-Balawi was a double agent who had misled Jordanian and US intelligence services for a year.[4]

Camp Chapman attack[edit | edit source]

Main article: Camp Chapman attack

On 30 December 2009, al-Balawi was picked up by Arghawan, an Afghan who was the chief of external security at Camp Chapman, at the border between Miranshah, Pakistan, and Khost, Afghanistan.[3] Arghawan drove al-Balawi to Camp Chapman, arriving around 4:30 p.m.[3] The car was waved through three security checkpoints without stopping before arriving at its destination well within the base.[3]

Sixteen people were waiting for the car near a building set up to debrief al-Balawi; they had even baked him a birthday cake as a gesture of goodwill.[3] Al-Balawi then got out of the vehicle and detonated the explosives hidden in his suicide vest.[3][4] Al-Balawi and nine other people were killed by the blast.[3] Seven were CIA personnel: five officers, including the chief of the base, and two contractors.[3] One was a Jordanian intelligence officer, identified as Ali bin Zaid, a relative of King Abdullah II.[3][5] The other was an Afghan working for the CIA.[3] Six other American CIA officers were wounded.[3]

According to a source cited by CNN, al-Balawi was within seconds of being searched by two security contractors when he detonated his explosives.[10]

Posthumous video[edit | edit source]

On 9 January 2010, a posthumous video of al-Balawi appeared on Al Jazeera. In the video, al-Balawi appeared next to the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, and called for attacks on US targets to avenge the killing of the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.[11] "We will never forget the blood of our emir Baitullah Mehsud," he said. "We will always demand revenge for him inside America and outside."[11]

Al-Balawi, wearing traditional Afghan dress, spoke in Arabic during the minute-and-a-half video.[11] He appeared to mock reports that he had ever been in the employ of US or Jordanian intelligence, saying: "The emigrant for the sake of God will not put his religion on the bargaining table and will not sell his religion even if they put the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left."[11]

Aftermath[edit | edit source]

The attack was the most lethal against the CIA since the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut.[3][4] It dealt a significant blow to the agency's operations in Afghanistan and exposed the close intelligence relationship between the United States and Jordan.[3] The bodies of seven CIA employees arrived at Dover Air Force Base in a small private ceremony attended by CIA Director Leon Panetta.[5]

The attack raised significant questions about how al-Balawi was able to penetrate the CIA base without being searched.[4] A US official and former CIA employee told the Associated Press that such informants were often not required to go through full security checks in order to help gain their trust.[4] In October 2010, the CIA acknowledged that al-Balawi had not been properly vetted.[12] A CIA investigation found that the agency had failed to follow its own security procedures.[12]

Both al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.[4][3] Al-Qaeda's Afghan wing said the bombing was revenge for the deaths of their leaders.[2] The attack also strained relations between the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence service.[3]

Personal life[edit | edit source]

Al-Balawi was married to Defne Bayrak, a Turkish woman and the daughter of a former Islamist mayor of Fatih in Istanbul.[7] They had two daughters.[6] His family described him as a devout Muslim who cared for the poor but was somewhat aloof.[1] His father, Khalil al-Balawi, blamed Jordanian and American intelligence for turning his son into an agent, saying: "May God take revenge on those responsible for turning this humane doctor to an agent. But I am proud of him and may his soul rest in peace as a true martyr."[2]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Afghan CIA bomber 'fooled family'". BBC News. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 al-Khalidi, Suleiman (9 January 2010). "Jordan bomber long aspired for jihad: relatives". Reuters. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Rubin, Alissa J. (31 December 2009). "Suicide Bomber Killed C.I.A. Operatives". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 "CIA bomber 'was a double agent'". BBC News. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "AP sources: Bomber at CIA base was a double agent". China Daily. Associated Press. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 "Mystery of CIA bomber's identity". BBC News. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Turcan, Metin; McCauley, Clark (2010). "Boomerang: Opinion versus action in the radicalization of Abu-Mulal al-Balawi". Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict. 3 (1): 14–31. doi:10.1080/17467586.2010.498896.
  8. ↑ Greenway, H.D.S. (14 January 2010). "A Jihadist's Destiny". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  9. ↑ "CIA bomber was triple agent: reports". ABC News. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  10. ↑ "Source: CIA bomber was about to be searched when explosives detonated". CNN. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "CIA bomber calls for attacks on US in video". China Daily. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Bomber who killed seven at CIA base 'was not vetted'". BBC News. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2026.

External links[edit | edit source]

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