A suicide bomber attacked a CIA base in Afghanistan Wednesday killing eight Americans. Most, if not all, of the dead were CIA employees or contractors. Several others were seriously wounded in the attack. The Washington Post described the suicide bombing as one of the deadliest attacks on the CIA in the agency’s history. The CIA base was located in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, which borders North Waziristan, the Pakistani tribal area. It is unclear how the assailant gained access to the heavily guarded base. The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the bombing, said one of its members who was working for the Afghan army carried out the attack. The CIA has been at the forefront of US counterterrorism operations in South Asia, launching drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The main CIA station in Afghanistan is based at the US embassy in Kabul, but most of its staff work at secret bases and military outposts.