“One of the strongholds of the Taliban and al Qaeda before the U.S.-led invasion was Tora Bora, a network of man-made caves in the White Mountains in eastern Afghanistan, on the edge of Pakistan’s autonomous frontier. Tora Bora became a target in the early phase of the air campaign, and the United States started bombing the area on November 16, 2001. Intelligence reports had suggested that Osama bin Laden and Taliban leaders were hiding with hundreds of militants in the caves there.”
– Deepak Tripathi, Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Page 49