JFK files reveals secret CIA base operated in Colombo

The latest batch of declassified files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy has revealed the US’ federal intelligence service ? the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ? had a secret base in Colombo.

The CIA?s?New York?division oversaw secret bases in multiple locations, revealed the documents referred to as ?JFK files? shedding light on the agency?s covert operations in India and several other countries.

The CIA bases were located in New Delhi, Calcutta (Kolkata) in India, Ankara, Istanbul (Turkey), Beirut (Lebanon), Tehran (Iran), Rawalpindi (Pakistan), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Seoul in South Korea, and Tokyo in Japan.

The document, which carries the list of CIA ?secret bases,? was shared by Russian media house RT on X.?Mint?couldn’t verify if the list was from the fresh batch of?JFK files?released by President Donald Trump-led United States administration on March 19.

These secret facilities, also known as “black sites,” are used by the CIA for various clandestine operations, including interrogation and detention of?suspected terrorists.

The previously classified records were published without redactions, according to a statement from the office of Tulsi Gabbard, the US?Director of National Intelligence?(DNI).

Approximately 2,200 of these documents have been put on the?US National Archives Records Administration?(NARA) website following an order by former?President Donald Trump.?The move is part of a broader collection of over six million pages of records, photographs, and other materials related to the John F Kennedy’s assassination.

Releasing JFK files has been on Trump’s agenda for long. In January, soon after he was?sworn into office, President Trump ordered the release of the remaining classified files related to the assassination, which has spawned countless conspiracy theories.

He directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop a plan to release the records. The order also aimed to declassify the remaining federal records related to the 1968 assassinations of Robert F Kennedy and?Martin Luther King Jr.? (Live Mint / Colombo Gazette)