CIA Kabul base destroyed in controlled demolition

A CIA outpost in Kabul was demolished in a controlled detonation on Friday, to prevent any equipment or information that might prove useful from falling into the hands of the Taliban. 

According to The New York Times, Eagle Base was used as a site to train counter-terrorism forces of the Afghan intelligence agencies. 

The former brick factory was converted into a US base early in the war and was used throughout. 

The base was designed to be impregnable, with many of the details unknown even to the area's locals.

Eagle Base was surrounded by 10-foot-high walls, with a thick sliding metal gate the only way in or out. Visitors to the base would have to clear three security checks, where the vehicle would be searched and documents checked before they could progress. 

Tonight the last remaining base belongs to Afghan Eagle Forces in Kabul was evacuated. All the sensitive documents were shredded & military equipment were detonated.
The base was the headquarters for many major op including the killing of al-Qaida's second-in-command in Ghazni

— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) August 26, 2021

Regarding the destruction, one former CIA contractor told The New York Times that all documents would have needed to be burned, and all the hard drives crushed, to ensure that the Taliban could gain no pertinent information.

Friday’s planned demolition happened just hours after an attack at Kabul airport, causing many locals in the area to fear that another attack had occurred. 

The suicide attack at the airport killed approximately 170 Afghanis and 13 US service members. The Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility. 

The speed of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan took many by surprise, and huge amounts of military hardware, provided to the Afghan army by the US, has now reportedly fallen into the hands of the hardline Islamist group. 

“We have already seen Taliban fighters armed with US-made weapons they seized from the Afghan forces. This poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies,” Republican Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters.

One official estimated that as many as 2,000 armored vehicles, including US Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones, were now in Taliban hands.