Osama Bin Laden holds a Kalashnikov rifle in Tora Bora, a mountainous region of Afghanistan, in November 1996. The Al Qaeda leader spent years developing a network of tunnels and caves in the area
Rare photos
have emerged of the primitive and isolated compound Osama Bin Laden
lived in until a Western bombing campaign forced him to flee.
The
images resurfaced last month during the terrorism conspiracy trial in
New York of Al Qaeda lieutenant Khaled al-Fawwaz, a communications
conduit for the terrorist organisation in London in the mid-1990s.
They
were taken by Palestinian journalist Abdel Barri Atwan, who was invited
to the hideout in 1996 as part of Bin Laden's ploy to spread his
message of hate to the Western world.
The 9/11 mastermind had declared war on America and planned a media campaign to garner international attention
The militant would sit in front of Islamic books when recording his video messages to make it seem like he was intellectual
Escape: Pictured is a secret passageway - part of the intricate network
that lay in the mountainside. Bin Laden told his sons they had to know
well the tunnel network in case the area came under attack
Home: A two-bedroom house - made out of mud and stone - where Bin Laden lived in Tora Bora
Sparse: A child's tricycle is seen outside one of the many isolated
homes designed for the terrorist leader. His children were fed a limited
diet of rice, bread, eggs and salty cheese
Keeping guard: A boy stands outside one of the primitive houses holding
a Kalashnikov. Most people living in the compound would always walk
around with a rifle
Break: Bin Laden speaks to al-Suri during a two-hour hike across the
mountains. Journalist Atwan said: 'He loved the nature there. He loved
the mountain. They were trying to have their own community'
The
compound, nestled in the snow-covered mountains, was primitive and only
connected to the nearest city of Jalalabad by dirt road.
During
the visit Atwan took a picture of a two-bedroom house made of mud and
stone Bin Laden is believed to have shared with his wives and family.
His children were believed to have suffered from constant hunger, with a limited diet of eggs, rice and salty cheese.
The
terrorist leader remained in the area until 2001. Western forces had
tracked him down to the region and consistently targeted it with air
strikes.
During
an assault in December, just months after the devastating September 11,
attacks he evaded capture by escaping on horseback and slipping into
neighboring Pakistan or northern Afghanistan.
He
was helped by local warlord, Maulvi Yunus Khalis, who had fought with
Bin Laden against the Red Army during the 1980s, according to officials
including Michael Scheuer, former CIA pointman in the hunt for the
al-Qaida chief.
In
that month, Tora Bora endured one of the most punitive bombing
campaigns in history. In just three days, from December 4 to 7, bombers
dropped some 700,000lb of explosives on Bin Laden's positions - the
equivalent of two nights' worth of RAF raids over Berlin during World
War II.
Experts
have asserted that Bin Laden was able to escape because of a lack of
American willingness to commit more troops to the operation — at a time
when the head of Al Qaeda was well within grasp.
After
Bin Laden relocated, the hunt expanded in the Kunar border zone. In
2003, US soldiers attacked the hideouts of Bin Laden's military chief
Kashmir Khan, slightly wounding him.
In 2005, a US special forces Chinook helicopter was shot down in Kunar, killing all 16 personnel on board.
The 10-year search for him ended on May 2 2011 when he was killed during a Navy Seal operation in Abbottobad.
Hideout: From left, inside a cave, are al-Suri, bin Laden and British documentary maker Gwynne Roberts
Security: The journey from Jalalabad to Tora Bora along the dustry track was a perilous and bumpy ride past armed checkpoints
Changing allegiance: Al-Suri relaxes in one of the hideouts. He was a
supporter of Bin Laden during the 1990s but soon would condemn Al
Qaeda's hierarchical and bureaucratic structure
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