Tora Bora, Afghanistan
Osama bin Laden and hundreds of his al Qaida cohorts escaped from the Tora Bora cave compound last winter because U.S. and Pakistani troops were unable to guard the Afghan borders, Newsweek reported this week. Afghan villagers told the magazine that the Americans bombed only one of the two main escape routes, and Pakistani troops didn’t reach the border region until many al Qaida members had already slipped into Pakistan or Iran. Bin Laden and two dozen followers went to Shah-i-kot, an Afghan mountain stronghold, in December, according to a Taliban guide. The man said he led the group on a brutal five-day trip through snowy mountains on horseback. “Osama rarely got down from his horse, he was such an expert rider,” the man said. A Taliban soldier said he saw bin Laden rallying the troops in Shah-i-kot several months later.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Brazil has a scorpion problemUnder The Radar Venomous arachnids are infesting country's fast-growing cities
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's controlThe Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrantsIN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
