# The self-destructing terrorist cell > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The self-destructing terrorist cell," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/self-destructing-terrorist-cell/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The CIA operation John Kiriakou describes in which a terrorist group was destroyed without a single agency killing — by approaching each member abroad in turn and implying that a colleague had informed, until they had murdered one another and the last man was killed by his own head of state.* - **Problem:** No access to the group and no ability to act against it - **Method:** Approach each member abroad; imply a colleague had already cooperated - **Result:** Members murdered one another in sequence - **The last man:** Killed by the leader of the country he was in - **Kiriakou's summary:** I didn't have to kill anybody **The self-destructing terrorist cell** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s account of a [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) operation that eliminated a terrorist group without the agency killing anyone. He tells it as the origin of a technique he later carried into prison.[1] ## The problem Kiriakou frames it against the tools that were not available. The operation is set out in contrast to smart drones and pinpoint accuracy on targeting — and he says plainly that he did not even have access to anybody in the group.[2][1] What the CIA had instead was patience and the certainty that people travel. The plan was to wait until one member of the group travelled to a country the agency had access to.[2] ## The approach When the first man travelled to Western Europe, a case officer approached him — very gently, in Kiriakou's telling. The officer greeted him by name, said he was from the CIA in Washington, and told him that the agency had been talking to his colleague Abdullah, another member of the group, for years; that Abdullah had said he would be a good man to talk to and had mentioned that he was coming; and that they thought they would just have a conversation, perhaps over dinner.[2][3] The man ran screaming from the room. He also went home and murdered Abdullah.[3] The agency then waited for the next man to travel and repeated the move: they had been talking to Mohammed the last time he was in Vienna or London, Mohammed had told them about Abdullah, and Abdullah — a true believer — worked with them and thought it would be good if this man did too. That man went home and killed Mohammed.[3][4] ## The outcome Kiriakou says the sequence continued until literally all of them had murdered one another, leaving only the founder of the group.[4] The founder was not killed by the CIA either. He came under suspicion from the leader of the country he was in, who wanted to know why all his people were dying and killing each other, concluded that something was up and that the man probably meant him harm — and killed him. The group ceased to exist.[4] Kiriakou's summary is delivered twice for emphasis: he did not have to kill anybody, and he did not even have access to anybody. They got them to kill each other.[1] ## Carried into prison He tells the story as preface rather than as a set piece. With that in mind, he says, he encountered a problem in prison that in real life probably would not have bothered him — and the response he devised was [the merry-go-round prank](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/merry-go-round-prank), a deception built the same way, out of a suggestion the target could not check.[1][5] His stated principle afterwards is that sometimes it is best to use dirty tricks, especially to save your own sanity.[6] ## See also - [The merry-go-round prank](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/merry-go-round-prank) - [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) - [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto) ## Sources 1. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 07:59. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ 2. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 06:20. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ 3. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 06:52. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ 4. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 07:26. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ 5. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 14:49. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ 6. S2E5 The Abyss (2026-06-15), at 17:29. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a29d3734df224c1a48bf864/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-dead-drop-s2e5-the-abyss/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/self-destructing-terrorist-cell/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt