The Battle of Tora Bora was an ambush-turn-battle by the U.S. military in Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda (Specifically Brigades 055) in 2001 in order to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.

Tora Bora is a large cave complex and was considered one of the last Al-Qaeda strong holds in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the reestablishment of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in 2001.

Background

The September 11th attacks is the main cause of the invasion of Afghanistan and the Battle of Tora Bora. Due to Osama Bin Laden having a major part of the planning and executing of the September 11th attacks he was considered target number one during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

After extensive investigation and research by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency they found Osama Bin Laden's hideout in the mountainous area of the Tora Bora cave complex.

(Osama Bin Laden in Tora Bora)

With all this information that the U.S. discovered, they launched an attack on Tora Bora.

The Battle

The Battle started with the U.S. military dropping large bombs on the mountainous area of Tora Bora, these bombs are known as Dairy Cutters.

(Strikes on Tora Bora)

(Strike in Tora Bora)

Special Boat Service of the British Navy and a 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment soldier accompanied the American troops in Tora Bora with members of the German Kommando Spezialkräfte doing so as well.

On November 30, 2001, there was a creation of a coalition of U.S. Special Forces, Joint Special Operations Command soldiers, and a detachment of CIA operatives codenamed "Jawbreaker" which was lead by Gary Berntsen.

(Member of the coalition and Delta Force)

On December 1, Berntsen made a request to general Tommy Franks to send in a battalion of around 800 United 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 general Franks. This, according to Berntsen, was the reason why Osama Bin Laden was able to escape from U.S. grasp.

Two Afghan commanders, Hazrat Ali and Mohammed Zaman, had a strong dislike and mutual distrust against each other and as a result, their factions often shot at each other instead of focusing on fighting Al-Qaeda.

In early December Al-Qaeda decided to withdraw from the high ground of the mountainous area which is when a team of elite Delta Force soldiers led by Major Tom Greer, aka Dalton Fury, arrived on December 8, 2001, disguised with traditional clothing and grown bushy beards to blend in with the Afghan militias who were also carrying that were the same types of weapons as their local counterparts.

(Delta Force members in disguise)

The Americans were able to gain confidential information on Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden during the battle after taking a radio communication device from a dead Al-Qaeda militant. Through the radio had they confirmed that Osama Bin Laden talking about a CIA operative under the alias of "Jalal".

Through December Afghan fighters continued a steady advance through the difficult terrain, backed by airstrikes and U.S. and British Special Forces.

(Strikes in Tora Bora, 2001)

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.

On December 12, 2001, Al-Qaeda militants saw that defeat was inevitable and decided to speak to Afghan forces on the truce deal and asked for time to cease their weapons. Though many critics of the truce state that this was just a ploy to get top Al-Qaeda leaders and militants including Osama Bin Laden out of harm's.

The ceasefire and truce deal ultimately failed, with fighting continuing the day after on December 13, 2001.

U.S. force further increased against Tora Bora, with mass attacks using local Afghan tribes, either paid or organized by U.S or British operatives with heavy bombing continuing against supposed Al-Qaeda locations. However, the progress of the forces was extremely slow due to every night to break their fast during Ramadan which left a small number of U.S. forces to fend themselves during the night. But on On December 14, 2001, 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.

It is believed that Osama Bin Laden left Tora Bora on December 15, 2001, for Jalalabad, Afghanistan. This is what is considered by some "A land victory, but an operative failure".

On December 17, 2001, the last of the large caves are in American/Afghani control and only hard-line Al-Qaeda fighters still remained in the cave complexes, around 60 fighters stayed behind in the caves before being killed off or deserting. Even after the battle the U.S. forces continued searching the area into January, but did not find any signs of bin Laden or the Al-Qaeda leadership.

Aftermath

(Man talking about the "martyrs" that died in Tora Bora)

Due to the Americans staying at Tora Bora in order to continue to find Osama Bin Laden many Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces bombarded American troops in Tora Bora.

(Ambush against American troops in Tora Bora by the Taliban)

Like the title says

Myanmar: Here you see a combined Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and local Mobye popular defense force assault on an entrenched junta position in the south-east of the country, near the village of Mobye in the Karenni state. The commander leading the charge appears to wear a prosthesis on his leg, although it's hard to make out - seems like he is adjusting it in the second zoom in.

It could also be some sort of self-made body armor since the rebel factions are proficient at recycling and even 3D-printing a large array of weaponry, drones and their ammunition. However, they are often equipped with captured or "ancestral" weapons like old hunting rifles and revolvers - sometimes even muzzle loaded with gunpowder and shot.

Fighters with prosthetic legs are not an unprecedented battlefield occurrence either, since landmines and their associated injuries are wide spread in Myanmar.

A very interesting conflict in which different ethnic groups (who have historically been pitted against each other) have allied to fight against a common enemy and for their own independence. Both sides in this conflict are partly funded by the CCP, though they have heavily favored supporting the military junta in the past.

The state of Karenni:

KNDF:

Resistance FGC-9 (3D printed gun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGC-9) in Myanmar:

Thanks for reading!

another one , 2 videos in row lol

sorry yall but the anti-isis complitation has ended, i enjoyed it a lot ngl

April 13th 2024

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