London : A secret intelligence report compiled by officials at Guantánamo Bay has claimed that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden did not escape to Pakistan, but headed up north in December 2001.
According to The News and the Guardian, Osama escaped with the help of a minor local warlord from Tora Bora.
A detainee at the Guantánamo detention centre -- Harun Shirzad al-Afghani – revealed that Bin Laden escaped the coalition dragnet around his mountain stronghold with the help of a local Pakistani militant commander and cleric called Maulawi Nur Muhammad.
Maulawi Nur Muhammad is said to have provided 40 or 50 fighters to escort Bin Laden and his close associate Ayman al-Zawahiri to safety following a meeting with a senior al-Qaida military field commander known as Abu Turab in mid-December 2001.
American forces launched their operation to capture or kill the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks at the beginning of December 2001, around three weeks after capturing Kabul. Over 100 western special forces soldiers backed by thousands of Afghans had closed in on their target after around ten days of fighting.
Previously it had been reported that Bin Laden had escaped south from Tora Bora into Pakistan, evading a blocking force of Pakistani troops and paramilitaries sent to secure the frontier. ANI
According to The News and the Guardian, Osama escaped with the help of a minor local warlord from Tora Bora.
A detainee at the Guantánamo detention centre -- Harun Shirzad al-Afghani – revealed that Bin Laden escaped the coalition dragnet around his mountain stronghold with the help of a local Pakistani militant commander and cleric called Maulawi Nur Muhammad.
Maulawi Nur Muhammad is said to have provided 40 or 50 fighters to escort Bin Laden and his close associate Ayman al-Zawahiri to safety following a meeting with a senior al-Qaida military field commander known as Abu Turab in mid-December 2001.
American forces launched their operation to capture or kill the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks at the beginning of December 2001, around three weeks after capturing Kabul. Over 100 western special forces soldiers backed by thousands of Afghans had closed in on their target after around ten days of fighting.
Previously it had been reported that Bin Laden had escaped south from Tora Bora into Pakistan, evading a blocking force of Pakistani troops and paramilitaries sent to secure the frontier. ANI
