Top secret CIA base was destroyed in NY attack

A top secret CIA base was destroyed in the World Trade Centre attack, it was reported today.

US intelligence operations were seriously disrupted by the destruction of the undercover New York site located in the building 7 at the World Trade Centre, which collapsed hours after the terrorist atrocities.

The agency’s staff working in the site were safely evacuated before it came down, the New York Times reported.

The CIA sent a special team to scour the wreckage for vital intelligence reports that were stored in the building either on paper or computers. It is not known how much was recovered.

The site operated behind the front of another federal organisation which the New York Times did not name.

It was a base to spy on and recruit overseas diplomats working at the United Nations, and played a major role in espionage operations against Russian intelligence officers.

It also maintained contacts with many leading US business executives prepared to share information with the CIA after returning from foreign trips.

Agents based at the New York site often worked undercover, pretending to be diplomats or business executives.

Since the September 11 attacks they played a central role in counter-terrorism in the New York area.