Bomber says in video that he shared U.S. secrets

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — 

A Pakistani television station aired a video Saturday allegedly showing the suicide bomber who hit a CIA outpost in Afghanistan telling the Pakistani Taliban leader that he had shared U.S. and Jordanian intelligence secrets with fellow militants.

He also urged militants to strike other U.S. targets in retaliation for the killing of the leader’s predecessor last year in a U.S. missile strike.

Although its veracity could not be immediately determined, the video is a powerful recruiting tool and its content potentially embarrassing to the U.S. spy agency.

The video purportedly depicts Jordanian bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Balawi, clad in military fatigues, sitting next to Taliban leader Hakimullah Mahsud, who is wearing a beige shawl and cradling an assault rifle on his lap. Both are bathed in a spotlight in a darkened room in front of a banner that reads: “There is no god but God. Muhammad is the prophet of God.”

“This shows that they compromised U.S. intelligence and, you must concede, did a great job,” said Talat Masood, a Pakistani military analyst and retired lieutenant general. “Furthermore, the fact that they had a video shows their level of sophistication about public relations in not only pulling off the event but publicizing it.”

Balawi blew himself up Dec. 30 inside heavily fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in eastern Afghanistan’s Khowst province. The audacious attack on the base, which is used to direct unmanned reconnaissance and missile aircraft along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killed seven CIA employees and contractors and his Jordanian handler.

Among the fatalities were the CIA base chief and an Al Qaeda specialist with extensive experience tracking Osama bin Laden.

The Pakistani channel Aaj TV quoted the bomber, who identifies himself in the video by his online name, Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, as saying he “shared all secrets of Jordanian and American intelligence” with fellow militants.

“The Jordanian and the American intelligence services offered me millions of dollars to work with them and to spy on the mujahedin,” Balawi is heard saying in English. But, “I came to the mujahedin and told them everything and we arranged together this attack.”

The Arabic-language satellite news channel Al Jazeera also reported Saturday that Balawi called on militants to carry out attacks “inside the United States and outside” to avenge the death of Baitullah Mahsud.

Mahsud was killed last year by a U.S. drone airstrike, leading to Hakimullah’s takeover. Hakimullah Mahsud is seen as more violent, but also more media-savvy, than his predecessor in heading a Taliban insurgency against Pakistan’s U.S.-allied government.

Hakimullah Mahsud has been in hiding since the Pakistani military attacked his bases in the South Waziristan tribal region. Although it’s not clear where the video was made, Mahsud’s presence suggests it was in Pakistan.

The video, which will almost certainly be scrutinized by intelligence officials worldwide, also appears to underscore growing links between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, both of which claimed responsibility for the attack.

Military analyst Masood said the attack would bolster morale among militants.

“It shows the U.S. is facing a very cunning and dangerous foe,” Masood said. “These are supposed to be the most backward people in the world, but look what globalization and the spread of technology has done.”

mark.magnier@latimes.com