Word: tora
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...secret that American special-operations forces have been in Afghanistan, but late last week they quietly made their way to Tora Bora, to the very front of the front lines. The dozen U.S. soldiers used a translator to coordinate with the head of the Afghan troops. To the Afghan fighters who were at their side, the Americans made it clear they were on a search-and-destroy mission. "We and the Americans had the same goal," said Khawri, an Afghan who was shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. troops. "To kill all the al-Qaeda people...
...than the city of Austin. After weeks of playing Where's Osama?, military officials believe they have overheard bin Laden on handheld radio in the White Mountains, giving orders to his dwindling al-Qaeda forces, now estimated at just 300 to 1,000 men. If bin Laden is in Tora Bora, he and his soldiers are trapped in a box: snow-covered peaks loom on two sides, Afghan and American soldiers await on a third, and Pakistani border patrols stand guard on the fourth...
...inevitability almost slipped away last week. The three Afghan warlords in control of alliance forces began the week with a successful assault on the Milawa Valley, the lone entrance to Tora Bora from the north. Al-Qaeda soldiers fled quickly, though they did manage to kill a few alliance troops. Having taken the territory, the warlords committed a major tactical error: they withdrew from the valley. When alliance forces returned the next day, they were greeted by three al-Qaeda fighters armed with machine guns who opened fire from 200 meters. No alliance soldiers were killed, but the morning...
...troops had vanished. Zaman's aides insist that they were probably "confused" when the U.S. broke the cease-fire and scampered back into their holes. But other Afghan leaders thought Zaman had been duped. "It was a trick," said Haji Zahir, one of the warlords commanding Afghan troops in Tora Bora. "They were buying time...
...hole is to be found in the tightening alliance net, it will most likely be somewhere along the 1,510-mile Pakistani border. Earlier in the week rumors swirled that bin Laden had been successfully smuggled across, although radio intercepts and the ferocity of fighting in Tora Bora suggested that al-Qaeda was defending more than just snow-covered rock. The Pakistani government, having seen the devastation bin Laden's presence caused in Afghanistan and having been swayed by the promise of $1 billion in new U.S. aid, insists it is guarding against the possibility of border crossings. Arabs, Macedonians...