A WikiLeaks Guantanamo Bay document focused on Osama bin Laden’s (UBL’s) escape from the Tora Bora compound in Afghanistan in December 2001. “Other Guantanamo assessments seen by CNN suggest that bin Laden abruptly left Tora Bora on December 11 [2001]. ‘UBL suddenly departed Tora Bora with a few individuals UBL selected,’ reads one report. His bodyguards left a day or two later and climbed the passes through the White Mountains into Pakistan, where they were detained by Pakistani paramilitary forces on December 15. Other detainees talk about an exodus of fighters around December 16 after negotiations with local Afghan commanders failed. The CNN team close to Tora Bora at the time was aware of and reported on radio contacts between the two sides, and it was evident that the poorly-equipped local militia sent to flush out al Qaeda militants had little appetite for the job. Hence the escape of senior figures in al Qaeda through the many ravines and valleys of the area.”
– Tim Lister, “Osama bin Laden’s Escape: A Tale of Subterfuge and Hard Cash,” CNN, April 28, 2011