A WikiLeaks document leaked from Guantanamo Bay included a statement by detainee Harun Shirzad al-Afghani, who told of bin Laden’s (OBL’s) escape from the Tora Bora compound in Afghanistan in December 2001. “Al-Afghani was a commander in the militant group Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, a close ally at the time of al Qaeda. Al-Afghani claims that the al Qaeda leader escaped the area thanks to a Pakistani militant and cleric called Maulawi Nur Muhammad. And he says bin Laden headed north toward Jalalabad and later to the remote province of Kunar in north-east Afghanistan. …al-Afghani is quoted as saying that he was directed by Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to ‘link up with al Qaeda forces in Tora Bora and exfiltrate OBL from the region.’ …Al-Afghani says Maulawi Nur Muhammad provided about 40 to 50 fighters to escort bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri away from Tora Bora. …According to the detainee assessment of al-Afghani, ‘Maulawi Nur Muhammad informed him of their escape approximately ten months after Tora Bora.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Tim Lister, “Osama bin Laden’s Escape: A Tale of Subterfuge and Hard Cash,” CNN, April 28, 2011