Battle of Tora Bora

This article is about the 2001 battle. For the 2017 battle, seeBattle of Tora Bora (2017).

Battle of Tora Bora
Part of theinvasion of Afghanistan
Location ofTora Borain Afghanistan, 34°07′N70°13′E
Date November 30 – December 17, 2001 Location Pachir Wa Agam District,Nangarhar Province,Afghanistan Result US-led coalition partial victory Beginning of theTaliban insurgency Osama bin Ladenescaped Tora Bora stronghold destroyed
Belligerents
Islamic State of Afghanistan United States United Kingdom Germany	Al-Qaeda Taliban 055 Brigade Turkistan Islamic Party Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Commanders and leaders
Bismillah Khan Hazrat Ali Abdul Zahir Qadir Mohammed Zaman Tommy Franks Dalton Fury Gary Berntsen Michael Boyce Reinhard Günzel	Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri Mullah Omar Abdul Latif Nasir(POW) (alleged) Hasan Mahsum Sufi Muhammad
Strength
2,500 AfghanEastern Shurafighters 70 U.S.1st SFOD-Dmembers 10CIA SADagents 105th Special Forces Groupmembers 52Special Boat Servicemembers 10Secret Intelligence Serviceagents Kommando Spezialkräfte other coalition forces (aircraft)	~1,500-2,000
Casualties and losses
Afghan Militias: Unknown Coalition: None	220 killed, 60 captured

TheBattle of Tora Borawas a military engagement that took place in the cave complex ofTora Bora,easternAfghanistan,from November 30 – December 17, 2001, during the final stages of theUnited States invasion of Afghanistan.It was launched by the United States and its allies with the objective to capture or killOsama bin Laden,the founder and leader of the militant organizational-Qaeda.Al-Qaeda and bin Laden were suspected of being responsible for theSeptember 11 attacksthree months prior. Tora Bora (Pashto:تورا بورا;Black Cave) is located in theSpīn Gharmountain range near theKhyber Pass.The U.S. stated that al-Qaeda had its headquarters there and that it was bin Laden's location at the time.

Background

InOperation Cycloneduring the early 1980s,CIAofficers had assisted themujahideenfighters in extending and shoring up the caves to use for resistance during theSoviet–Afghan War.The U.S. then supported their effort. Several years later, theTalibanformed andtook control of most of the country,enforcingfundamentalistrule. Several cave areas were used in much earlier periods, as the difficult terrain formed a natural defensive position and had been used by tribal warriors fighting foreign invaders.

In the aftermath of theSeptember 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,the United States launchedOperation Enduring Freedomto dismantle theTalibanregime that had sheltered Osama bin Laden. To achieve this goal, the U.S. military joined forces with theNorthern Alliance,a group of rebels who had long been waging a guerrilla war against the Taliban. Through a combination of air strikes and ground operations, the U.S. and its allies quickly gained the upper hand, seizing control of key Taliban strongholds and toppling the regime's grip on power. By November 13, 2001, the Northern Alliance hadcaptured the capital city of Kabul.

The CIA was closely tracking Osama bin Laden's movements, hoping to locate and catch him. On November 10, 2001, he had been spotted nearJalalabadtraveling in a convoy of 200 pick-up trucks heading in the direction of his training camp in Tora Bora mountain.The U.S. had expected bin Laden to make a last stand at Tora Bora, hoping to repeat his success against the Soviets in theBattle of Jajiin 1987. Vice PresidentDick Cheneyrevealed in a November 29, 2001 television interview that bin Laden was believed to be in the general area of Tora Bora, surrounded by a sizable force of loyal fighters.The CIA lead in thePanjshir,Gary Berntsen,sent a detachment to team up with Afghan tribal militias around Jalalabad who opposed the Taliban.The Americans climbed the mountains guided by the locals who knew the terrain. After a few days of climbing, they arrived at the training camp in Tora Bora where hundreds of Al-Qaeda fighters could be spotted.

Battle

U.S air strikes on Tora Bora, November or December 2001

At the end of 2001,Al-Qaedafighters were still holding out in the mountains of the Tora Bora region. Aerial bombardment ensued, including the use of large bombs known asdaisy cutters.

Twelve BritishSBScommandos, and one BritishRoyal Signals Specialistfrom 63 Signals squadron (now known as18 [UKSF] Signal Regiment), accompanied the U.S. special operations forces in attacking the cave complex at Tora Bora. Special Forces Operators of the GermanKSKtook part in the battle as well. They were reportedly responsible for protecting the flanks in the mountains and conducting reconnaissance missions.

On November 30, 2001, a coalition ofU.S. Special Forces,Joint Special Operations Commandsoldiers, and a detachment of CIA operatives codenamed "Jawbreaker" led byGary Berntsen,joined forces with Afghan tribal militias, and began to call in airstrikes on the Al-Qaeda training camp.

On December 1, Berntsen made a request to generalTommy Franksto send in a battalion of 800United States Army Rangers.The plan was to block off the mountain passes into Pakistan and cut off Osama bin Laden's escape, however, the request was denied by Franks.Berntsen would later say that the failure to deploy the Rangers at Tora Bora and overreliance on the Afghan militias had allowed bin Laden to escape.

On December 3,Hazrat Ali,one of the Afghan commanders, announced that the push to capture the mountain stronghold would begin. However, Hazarat Ali's failure to properly communicate the plan of attack to the other commanders resulted in many fighters being ill-prepared at the outset of the offensive.On December 5, the Afghan fighters wrested control of the low ground below the mountain caves from the Al-Qaeda fighters. The Jawbreaker team and Special Forces teams equipped withlaser designatorscalled in Air Force bombers to take out targets; non-stop heavy air strikes includinglaser-guided bombsand missiles lasted for 72 hours.

The tribal militias that the U.S. coalition was coordinating with lacked the motivation to engage in the fight wholeheartedly. To them, Al-Qaeda was a group of fellow Muslims, and with the battle taking place during Ramadan, the fighters would retire every evening to break their fast and spend time with their families off the mountain.Moreover, the two Afghan commanders,Hazrat AliandMohammed Zaman,had a strong dislike and mutual distrust of each other. As a result, their factions often shot at each other instead of focusing on fighting Al-Qaeda. The animosity between the leaders and their respective militias was not a favorable sign for a successful outcome against a determined and cohesive enemy.

The Al-Qaeda fighters withdrew to higher fortified positions and dug in for the battle. On December 8, a team of eliteDelta Forcesoldiers led by Major Tom Greer, aka Dalton Fury, arrived.They had put on traditional clothing and grown bushy beards to blend in with the Afghan militias, and were carrying the same types of weapons as their local counterparts.

The Americans were able to pick up a radio from a dead Al-Qaeda fighter. This allowed the U.S. forces to eavesdrop on the Al-Qaeda fighter's communications, including Osama bin Laden himself. Fury has said that there was "no doubt" that it was bin Laden's voice on the other end of that radio, citing a CIA operative named Jalal, who had spent seven years studying bin Laden's voice, confirming it.

Two BritishSBSCommandos from M Sqn were embedded with A Sqn Delta, one of whom continued to work for JSOC, albeit in a different capacity. During the hours of darkness, the Al-Qaeda fighters would light fires, which would reveal their specific location and aid laser-designated targeting for air-launched weapons.

The Afghan fighters continued a steady advance through the difficult terrain, backed by airstrikes and U.S. and BritishSpecial Forces.

The U.S. bombed the bunker that bin Laden was believed to be hiding in on December 9, however, he had already evacuated the bunker on the previous day. Journalist Peter Bergen says that bin Laden had a premonition of danger when he dreamed of a scorpion crawling into one of the trenches his men had dug for him.

On December 10, Delta Force intercepted radio communications indicating that bin Laden was on the move, attempting to break through the siege line. Later that day, Afghan soldiers claimed they had spotted bin Laden and had him surrounded. In the evening, more communications revealed bin Laden's location just 10 kilometers away. However, Delta Force couldn't act on this opportunity due to being engaged in a fierce firefight with other Al-Qaeda fighters and their Afghan allies leaving to break their fast and observe Ramadan. Dalton Fury later expressed deep regret about the failure to capitalize on this opportunity, feeling that he had let down his country in its time of need.

On December 12, Al-Qaeda forces, facing defeat, negotiated a truce with a local Afghan militia commander to give them time to surrender their weapons. In retrospect, however, some critics believe that the truce was a device to allow important Al-Qaeda figures, including Osama bin Laden, to escape.

...a severe and fierce bombardment began...not one second passed without warplanes hovering over our heads...[America] exhausted all efforts to blow up and annihilate this tiny spot – wiping it out altogether...Despite all this, we blocked their daily attacks, sending them back defeated, bearing their dead and wounded. And not once did American forces dare storm our position, what clearer proof of their cowardice, fear, and lies concerning the myth of their alleged power is there?!

Osama bin Laden, 2002

Gary Berntsen was furious when he heard the news of the ceasefire. He didn't trust the Al-Qaeda fighters and was suspicious of their intentions to surrender. He grabbed his phone and screamed, "No cease-fire! No negotiation! We continue airstrikes!".Dalton Fury has accounted that the Americans were only half-heartedly honoring the truce, even bombing Al-Qaeda positions at 5 AM, a full three hours before it was set to expire. One American pilot protested the proposed surrender by drawing a giant "8" in the sky, followed by the word "ON".

On December 13, the fighting flared again, possibly initiated by a rear guard buying time for the main force's escape through theWhite Mountainsinto thetribal areasofPakistan.Tribal forces backed by U.S. special operations troops and air support pressed ahead against fortified al-Qaeda positions in caves and bunkers scattered throughout the mountainous region.

The U.S. focus increased on the Tora Bora. Local tribal militias, paid and organized by Special Forces and CIA SAD paramilitary, numbering over 2,000 strong, continued to mass for an attack as the heavy bombing continued on suspected Al-Qaeda positions.However, progress was painfully slow due to the Afghans retreating every night to break their fast, leaving only a small number of U.S. special forces to fend for themselves and allowing Al-Qaeda to regain control of all the terrain that had been gained during the day. On December 14, the Americans finally convinced Hazrat Ali to keep his men in position and continue advancing even after dark. But at this point, too much time had already been wasted, allowing most of the Al-Qaeda leadership to escape into Pakistan.

Bin Laden is conventionally believed to have escaped Tora Bora on December 15. As the situation became increasingly precarious due to continued U.S. bombardment and with the Al-Qaeda fighters running low on food supplies, two groups of Al-Qaeda fighters descended the southern slopes toward Pakistan. They bribed local tribes in the area to elude Pakistani blocking forces. HistorianCarter Malkasianhas hinted that bin Laden may have escaped with one of these two groups.

Peter Bergen's account states that bin Laden had already escaped towardsJalalabadon December 12 during the truce that had been negotiated that day. Bergen says that bin Laden took advantage of the truce that night and used the cover of the darkness to sneak out of the mountain range and make his way to the house of an ally in Jalalabad, where he spent the night. The next day, he rode north on horseback to the heavily forested mountains ofKunar,where he disappeared into a place so remote and obscure that it didn't appear on any maps.

Another theory presented bySean Naylorinvolves outside assistance. According to Naylor, a Delta operator observed multipleMi-17helicopters, which are used by the Pakistani armed forces, flying near the border at the Agam pass. The helicopters seemed to be making a quick landing in Afghanistan and then immediately returning to Pakistan. This observation led some Delta members to speculate that Pakistan might have been transporting bin Laden to safety.

The failure to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora meant that the U.S. had squandered its best opportunity to capture the Al-Qaeda leader during the first year of theWar on Terror.

By December 17, 2001, the last cave complex had been taken and their defenders overrun.Some of the most brutal fightings of the battle took place during these last couple of days as the most dedicated Al-Qaeda fighters remained in the caves to cover the retreat of their leadership.The around 60 captured Al-Qaeda prisoners were put on display for the international media. These prisoners appeared worn out and thin, far from the image of the formidable warriors that many had presumed them to be.U.S. forces continued searching the area into January, but did not find any signs of bin Laden or the Al-Qaeda leadership. FormerCIAofficerGary Berntsenled the CIA team tasked with locating bin Laden.He said that al-Qaeda detainees had reported that bin Laden escaped into Pakistan via an easterly route toParachinar.Berntsen believed that bin Laden could have been captured during the battle if the U.S. military had committed more troops early in the battle.

Ranger deployment

CIA intelligence had indicated that bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership were trapped in the caves early in the battle, and Berntsen had wanted to send less than 1,000 American Army Rangers to eliminate them, which he believed would have ended theWar on Terrorvery quickly. However, the request was turned down by theBush administration,which had argued that the Pakistanis would capture bin Laden if he attempted to flee into Pakistan.

Former CIA agentGary Schroenhas agreed with Berntsen's opinion in a 2005 interview, in which he cited the opportunity to take out bin Laden and the senior Al-Qaeda leadership early on in the conflict by deploying the Rangers.HistorianCarter Malkasian,a former adviser to American military commanders in Afghanistan, has argued that bin Laden always had a good chance of escaping the caves and that the Rangers would not have been able to completely seal off the mountain range.

Bin Laden's whereabouts

After the failure to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, the Bush administration initially denied any evidence of his presence in the battle. Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeldargued that the threat posed by Islamist extremism went beyond one individual, and there was no certainty about bin Laden's presence. Vice PresidentDick Cheneyavoided addressing the matter entirely, choosing to never mention or talk about the battle's occurrence.

On January 7, 2002, GeneralTommy Franks,who was the general commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan at the time, told theAssociated Pressthat bin Laden had been at Tora Bora.However, he later backpedaled on this comment, writing in an October 2004 opinion article inThe New York Times:

We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the time... Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives... but Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp.

According to Lieutenant GeneralMichael Delong,Franks's deputy atCENTCOMat the time, officials in Washington were well aware of bin Laden's presence at Tora Bora during the battle. He later wrote in his memoir:

We were hot on Osama bin Laden’s trail. He was definitely there when we hit [the Tora Bora] caves. Every day during the bombing, Rumsfeld asked me, ‘Did we get him? Did we get him?’

During the2004 presidential election,the question of whether Osama bin Laden was present at Tora Bora became a highly debated issue.John Kerry,the Democratic contender, criticized the Bush administration, accusing them of failing to capture bin Laden despite having him cornered in the caves and with the world's most powerful military at their disposal. This criticism sparked a strong reaction from the Bush campaign, as it challenged the president's claim of being tough on terrorism. Dick Cheney vehemently dismissed Kerry's critique of the Tora Bora campaign as "absolute garbage."

In the spring of 2005, the Pentagon released a document to TheAssociated Press.The document admitted that Pentagon investigators believed that bin Laden had indeed escaped at Tora Bora. This was the first time such information had been made public.

Many enemy fighters fled through the rough terrain and intotribal areas of Pakistan to the south and east.Allied forces estimated that around 200 of the al-Qaeda fighters were killed during the battle, along with an unknown number of anti-Taliban tribal fighters. No coalition deaths were reported. Bin Laden would not be seen until 2004, when a video of him surfaced on theQatar-basedAl Jazeeranetwork.

In 2009, theUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relationsled an investigation into the Battle of Tora Bora. They concluded that Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeldand GeneralTommy Frankshad not committed enough troops during the battle to secure the area around Tora Bora. They believed that Osama bin Laden had likely been at Tora Bora and his escape prolonged the war in Afghanistan.

Delta Force commander's account

The first US team to enter theTora Boramountain range

The formerDelta Forceofficer Thomas Greer,using the pen name "Dalton Fury", who was the ground force commander at Tora Bora, wrote that bin Laden escaped into Pakistan on or around December 16, 2001. Fury gives three reasons for why he believes bin Laden was able to escape: (1) the US mistakenly thought that Pakistan was effectively guarding the border area, (2) NATO allies refused to allow the use of air-droppedGATOR mines,which might have kept bin Laden and his forces inside the Tora Bora area, and (3) over-reliance on native Afghan military forces as the main force deployed against bin Laden and his fighters. Fury theorized that, because the battle took place over the holy religious month ofRamadan,the Afghan forces would leave the battlefield in the evenings to break fast, giving al-Qaeda a chance to regroup, reposition, or escape.

In an October 2008 interview on60 Minutes,Fury said that his Delta Force team and CIA Paramilitary Officers traveled to Tora Bora after the CIA had identified bin Laden's location. Fury's team proposed an operation to attack bin Laden's suspected position from the rear, over the 14,000 foot-high mountain separating Tora Bora from Pakistan. He said unidentified officials at higher headquarters rejected his proposal. Fury suggested dropping GATOR mines in the passes leading away from Tora Bora, but this was also denied. Fury and his team approached the suspected position from the front and were within 2,000 meters, but withdrew because of uncertainty over the number of al-Qaeda fighters and a lack of support from allied Afghan troops.

Delta forceoperators disguised as Afghan civilians

A short time later, the Afghan military forces declared aceasefirewith al-Qaeda. In his 2008 book,Kill bin Laden,Fury described the following. His team planned to advance again on the al-Qaeda forces, but after the cease-fire, Afghan soldiers drew their weapons on the US soldiers. After 12 hours of negotiations, the Afghans stood down, but bin Laden and his bodyguards had left. Fury reports that his team intercepted and interpreted radio calls by bin Laden in the afternoon of December 13, 2001. He said to his fighters, "the time is now, arm your women and children against the infidel." Then, after a few hours of bombing, bin Laden broke radio silence again, saying: "Our prayers were not answered. Times are dire and bad. We did not get support from the apostate nations who call themselves our Muslim brothers. Things might have been different." Fury said that bin Laden's final words to his fighters that night were "I'm sorry for getting you involved in this battle if you can no longer resist, you may surrender with my blessing."

During his interview on60 Minutesto discuss his book, Fury said that his team saw a group whom they believed to be bin Laden and his bodyguards entering a cave. The team called down several bombing attacks on the site, and believed that they had killed bin Laden. Six months later, US and Canadian forces returned and checked several caves in the area, finding remains of al-Qaeda fighters, but not of bin Laden. Fury thought that bin Laden was injured during the bombing of the cave, but was hidden, given medical care, and assisted out of the area into Pakistan by allied local Afghans.

Guantanamo captives' accounts of the battle

U.S. authorities have justified the continued detention of several dozen AfghanGuantanamo captivesby the suspicion they had participated in the battle of Tora Bora, had been present during the battle, or had passed through the area of the battle before or after it concluded, or helped Osama bin Laden to escape.

In September 2007,Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi,aYemenimedical doctor held as anenemy combatantby the United States, was reported to have described the conditions during the battle:

"Most of all the total guns in the Tora Bora area was 16Kalashnikovsand there are 200 people. "He also said, "He [Osama bin Laden] came for a day to visit the area and we talked to him and we wanted to leave this area. He said he didn't know where to go himself and the second day he escaped and was gone."

Aftermath

British and American special forces soldiers and officers wore nativeShalwar kameezdress to find Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, 2001.

Following Tora Bora, UK and U.S. forces and their Afghan allies consolidated their position in the country. The Taliban and al-Qaeda forces did not give up and went into hiding. ALoya jirgaor grand council of major Afghan factions, tribal leaders, and former exiles, aninterim Afghan government,was established inKabulunderHamid Karzai.Mullah Saifur Rehman, aTalibanfugitive in Paktia province, began rebuilding some of his militia forces in support of the anti-US fighters. They totaled over 1,000 by the beginning ofOperation Anacondain March 2002. The insurgents planned to use the region as a base for launchingguerrillaattacks and possibly amajor offensivein the style of themujahedinduring the 1980s.

U.S. forces established their main base atBagram Air Basejust north of Kabul. They usedKandahar International Airportas an important base for accepting and distributing supplies and personnel. Several outposts were established in eastern provinces to hunt forTalibanand Al-Qaeda fugitives. The number of U.S. troops operating in the country would eventually grow to more than 10,000 as efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaeda were increased.

In 2009, a U.S. Senate report concluded that the failure to capture bin Laden "[laid] the foundation for today's protracted Afghan insurgency and inflaming the internal strife now endangering Pakistan."Al-Qaeda forces began regrouping in theShahi-Kotmountains ofPaktia Provincethroughout January and February 2002.

CIA team deputy chief (right) meeting with Afghan mercenaries in Tora Bora, 2001

In December 2009,New RepublicpublishedPeter Bergen's "The Battle for Tora Bora"In his critique of the battle, Bergen reconstructed the U.S. allies engagement at Tora Bora. He said that GeneralTommy Franks,then U.S. Army chief, refused to deploy 800 Army Rangers from nearby bases to assault the complex of caves where bin Laden was supposedly hiding. Bergen characterized this as "one of the greatest military blunders in recent US history".Bergen says that the US failure to capture bin Laden at the time provided energy to theTaliban.It regrouped and became stronger after U.S. officials diverted forces for theinvasion of Iraqin March 2003 and war there.

U.S. intelligence agencies continued to track bin Laden. On May 2, 2011, PresidentBarack Obamaannounced thedeath of Osama bin Laden,who was living in acompoundin the city ofAbbottabad,Khyber Pakhtunkhwaprovince, Pakistan. He was killed by a US NavySEALraid on the urban compound.

Tora Bora "fortress"

Tora Bora refers to a fortress-like section ofSpin Ghar,which is also known as theWhite Mountains.In the 1980s, this area was a key battleground for theMujahideenfighters in their resistance against theSoviet-backed communist regime.Osama bin Laden, being the scion of awealthy Saudi construction tycoon,used his resources to fund and build tunnel complexes in the mountains during theSoviet–Afghan War.He also attracted scores of foreign Islamist fighters to Afghanistan, transforming the local resistance into a globalJihad.

During an interview with theNew York Times,Masood Farivar, a former Mujahideen fighter who had fought in Tora Bora during the war with the Soviets, explained the significance of the caves:

"They're rugged, formidable and isolated, If you know them, you can come and go with ease. But if you don't, they're a labyrinth that you can't penetrate. They rise in some places to 14,000 feet, and for 10 years the Soviets pummeled them with everything they had, but to absolutely no avail. Another reason they're so important is their proximity to the border and to Pakistan"

After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, Osama bin Laden left Afghanistan. However, he returned in 1996 with his wives and children after being expelled fromSudan.Once back in Afghanistan, he began expanding his fortress and building base camps at higher elevations. Bin Laden took the time to intimately familiarize himself with the area, hiking for long periods with his sons and committing the geography to memory.

Tora Bora has been variously described by the Western media as an impregnable cave fortress housing 2000 men complete with a hospital, a hydroelectric power plant, offices, a hotel, arms and ammunition stores, roads large enough to drive a tank into, and elaborate tunnel and ventilation systems.Both the British and American press has published elaborate plans of the base. When presented with such plans in anNBCinterview onMeet the Press,Donald Rumsfeld,the US Secretary of Defense, said, "This is serious business, there's not one of those, there are many of those".

When Tora Bora was eventually captured by the U.S., British and Afghan troops, no traces of the supposed 'fortress' were found despite painstaking searches in the surrounding areas. Tora Bora turned out to be a system of small natural caves housing, at most, 200 fighters. While arms and ammunition stores were found, and while Soviet tanks had been driven into some of the caves,there were no traces of the advanced facilities claimed to exist.

In an interview published by thePublic Broadcasting Service,a Staff Sergeant from theU.S. Special ForcesOperational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 572, who had been in the Battle of Tora Bora described the caves:

"Again, with the caves, they weren't these crazy mazes or labyrinths of caves that they described. Most of them were natural caves. Some were supported with some pieces of wood maybe about the size of a 10-foot by 24-foot room, at the largest. They weren't real big. I know they made a spectacle out of that, and how are we going to be able to get into them? We worried about that too, because we see all these reports. Then it turns out, when you actually go up there, there's really just small bunkers, and a lot of different ammo storage is up there."

JournalistMatthew Forney,covering the battle, described being allowed access to see "rough bunkers" deep in the mountains, which he considered "remarkable."

"After my eyes adjusted I saw a chamber of about eight square feet and high enough for a tall man to stand in. The floor was dirt and rubble, but there were signs of habitation. It contained two empty white boxes decorated with palm trees and the words," Sherjah Dates. "Scattered on the floor were a few green metal boxes of ammunition with Russian writing on them, and a canister about the size of an unexploded cluster bomb but the wrong color — red instead of yellow. Another cave next to it was about the same size and filled with ammunition, mostly bullets for Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades. Another nearby was much bigger and also filled with ammunition. Its cavern sloped up and back and seemed to lead to a passage, but nobody ventured in."

See also

• War in Afghanistan (1978–present)
• British Special Forces
• CIA'sSpecial Activities Division
• Operation Anaconda
• Osama bin Laden
  • Death of Osama bin Laden
• U.S. Army'sDelta Force
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
• Battle of Baghuz Fawqani— TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant's last stand in Syria

References

Bibliography

• Bergen, Peter L. (August 3, 2021).The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden: The Biography.Simon & Schuster.
• Malkasian, Carter (June 15, 2021).The American War in Afghanistan: A History(1st ed.). Oxford University Press.

Further reading

• Jawbreaker: The attack on bin Laden and al-Qaeda,Gary Berntsen,Three Rivers PressISBN0-307-35106-8,Published December 24, 2006 (paperback).
• Online map and pictureThe Washington Post. December 10, 2008.
• The Long Hunt for OsamaPeter Bergen,The Atlantic Monthly.Oct. 2004
• Tora BoraJohn Bowman, CBC News Online. Dec. 2001
• The Tora Bora Fortress Myth?Edward Epstein, The Times. November 29, 2001
• Lost at Tora BoraMary Anne Weaver,The New York Times.September 11, 2005
• How bin Laden got awayPhillip Smucker, The Christian Science Monitor. March 4, 2002
• Michael R. Gordon(December 23, 2001)."A NATION CHALLENGED: SURVIVORS; On Tora Bora, Horror Rained On Al Qaeda".New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 1,2008.
• Bergen, Peter (December 30, 2009)."The Battle for Tora Bora".The New Republic.Archived fromthe originalon May 8, 2013.RetrievedJuly 15,2013.