By NNN-KUNA,
Washington : President Barack Obama addressed a memorial service at CIA headquarters on Friday for the seven intelligence officials killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 30.
More than a 1,000 Central Intelligence Agency officers gathered in Langley, Virginia, for the service, along with senior officials from the US intelligence community, the White House and the Pentagon, as well as members of Congress.
Obama told CIA officers that their “seven heroes” were at the vanguard of a mission vital to national security, according to a White House press release.
“Let their sacrifice be a summons to carry on their work, to complete this mission, to win this war, and to keep our country safe,” Obama was quoted as saying.
A suicide bomber killed the CIA officers and contractors, as well as a Jordanian intelligence official, at a US base in Khost, in southeastern Afghanistan.
The bomber, who officials said was a double agent, was within seconds of being searched by security contractors when he detonated his explosives, according to a former intelligence official with knowledge of the incident.