War in Afghanistan · 2001
The Battle of Tora Bora
War in Afghanistan
US forces believed that Osama Ben Ladin and the others leader of Al Qaeda were hiding in the mountains of Toro Boro. The US sent a group of CIA operatives together with special forces to the area. They directed a massive bombing campaign against the Taliban there. That allowed the Northern Alliance to gain control of the lower mountain areas. The Taliban negotiated a temporary ceasefire that in retrospect many think allowed Bin Laden to escape. Warfare soon resumed and the American, British and German Special Forces captured all of the caves in the area one by one. By December 17th the last cave was captured.