Douglas A-26 Invader the Cuban government. On 15 April 1961, crewed by Cuban exiles, eight B-26s of the FAL ("Fuerza Aérea de Liberación") attacked three Cuban airfields, in an attempt to destroy FAR combat aircraft on the ground. On 17 April 1961, FAL B-26s supported the seaborne Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. The conflict ended on 19 April, after the loss of nine FAL B-26s, 10 Cuban exiles and 4 American aircrew in combat. The FAR flew B-26Cs in the conflict, one of which was shot down by a CIA 'command ship' with the loss of 4 Cuban aircrew. The CIA contracted
CIA activities in Iraq provided the CIA with information on terrorist groups including the Abu Nidal Organization. However, there was a delay between the CIA's provision of intelligence to the Mukhabarat and that intelligence being received and analyzed by the Iraqi military, which resulted in much of it not being actionable. Therefore, the CIA eventually began working directly with Iraqi military intelligence, thereby negating its leverage on Iraqi-sponsored terrorism. The CIA provided intelligence support to the U.S. military in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Mohammed Abdullah Shawani's "saga illustrates a little-understood part of the Iraq story—the CIA's attempt to mobilize Iraqi officers