Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officials and a Jordanian military officer last week in Afghanistan was a Jordanian double-agent , a former U.S. intelligence official told CNN Monday . The bomber was a source who came to the base camp in Khost near the Pakistan border for a meeting on December 30 , a senior U.S. official also confirmed . The man had been used by both countries ' intelligence services in the past , and had provided information about high-value targets , the senior U.S. official said . `` Yes , it was a joint U.S.-Jordanian source who had provided over the period of his cooperation a lot of very detailed good information that was of high interest at the most senior levels of the U.S government , '' the former U.S. intelligence official said . The security breach occurred because the bomber was met off-base by U.S. intelligence officials who failed to search him before they put him in a car and drove him onto Forward Operating Base Chapman , the former intelligence official said . Both the Jordanian and U.S. intelligence services believed the man was loyal , according to the former intelligence official . `` Clearly there is a lot of soul searching '' at CIA headquarters in Virginia , according to the former intelligence official . The bomber was identified as Human Khalil Abu-Mulal al Balawi , from the Jordanian town of Zarqa , also home to the late Abu Musab al Zarqawi , the one-time leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq , the former intelligence official said . Both the Jordanian and U.S. intelligence agencies apparently believed al Balawi had been rehabilitated from extremist views and were using him to hunt Ayman al Zawahiri , the second-ranking al Qaeda official to Osama bin Laden , the former intelligence official said . Jordanian intelligence services have long covertly cooperated with the United States , specifically in the hunt for al Zawahiri and bin Laden , because of the ability of Jordanian agents to blend into the al Qaeda organization , noted the former intelligence official . Also killed in last week 's attack in Afghanistan was Jordanian Army Captain Sharif Ali bin Zeid , a cousin of King Abdullah of Jordan . The Jordanian government has not publicly commented on the specific circumstances of bin Zeid 's death , but U.S. sources confirmed bin Zeid was present and was the Jordanian operative working closely with al Balawi . The CIA refused to comment Monday , saying the matter was under investigation . The bodies of the seven CIA employees were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to a private ceremony attended by CIA Director Leon Panetta , other agency and national security officials , and friends and family . A Jordanian official who did not want to be identified said bin Zeid `` was killed on Wednesday in the line of duty as he was taking part in a humanitarian mission carried out by the Jordan Armed Forces in Afghanistan . '' The Jordanian official added : `` Jordan 's position in the war on terror is clear ; we are fully committed to fighting al Qaeda , which is a threat to Jordan as it is a threat to the United States . We are also committed to continuing our cooperation with the United States and the international community in the fight against terror and in defeating al Qaeda . '' In a posting on its Web site last week , the Taliban in Afghanistan claimed the bomber was an Afghan National Army soldier . On Sunday , however , Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud said in an e-mail that `` we claim the responsibility for the attack on the CIA in Afghanistan . '' `` The suicide bomber was a Jordanian national . This will be admitted by the CIA and the Jordanian government '' the message said . The attack occurred at a forward operating base , which a U.S. intelligence official acknowledged was a crucial CIA post and a `` hub of activity . '' The main purpose of CIA forward operating bases in Afghanistan , officials have noted , is to recruit informants and to plan and coordinate covert operations , including drone surveillance and targeting . The attack was `` a huge blow , symbolically and tactically , '' because it eliminated such a large number of CIA officers , who can require years to become ingrained in the region , said Reva Bhalla , director of analysis for STRATFOR -- an international intelligence company . In addition , the attack showed the ability of the Taliban to penetrate perhaps the most difficult of targets -- a CIA base , she said . Former CIA official Robert Richer called it `` the greatest loss of life for the Central Intelligence Agency since the Beirut Embassy bombing '' in 1983 , which killed eight agents . An American intelligence official vowed last week that the United States would avenge the attack . Two of those killed were contractors with private security firm Xe , formerly known as Blackwater , a former intelligence official told CNN . The CIA considers contractors to be officers . On Sunday , a local administration official and an intelligence official told CNN that two guided missiles struck a compound in the Pakistani village of Musaki in North Waziristan suspected of being a gathering place for local and foreign militants . The attack killed Sadiq Noor , a teacher ; his 9-year-old son ; and three people from outside the country , according to the sources , who said the missiles were believed to have been fired by an unmanned drone . There was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the missile attack .