Osama did not escape to Pakistan, but headed north: GITMO documents
April 26th, 2011 - 8:15 pm ICT by ANILondon, Apr. 26 (ANI): A secret intelligence report compiled by officials at Guantánamo Bay has claimed that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden did not escape to Pakistan, but headed up north in December 2001.
According to The News and the Guardian, Osama escaped with the help of a minor local warlord from Tora Bora.
A detainee at the Guantánamo detention centre — Harun Shirzad al-Afghani - revealed that Bin Laden escaped the coalition dragnet around his mountain stronghold with the help of a local Pakistani militant commander and cleric called Maulawi Nur Muhammad.
Maulawi Nur Muhammad is said to have provided 40 or 50 fighters to escort Bin Laden and his close associate Ayman al-Zawahiri to safety following a meeting with a senior al-Qaida military field commander known as Abu Turab in mid-December 2001.
American forces launched their operation to capture or kill the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks at the beginning of December 2001, around three weeks after capturing Kabul. Over 100 western special forces soldiers backed by thousands of Afghans had closed in on their target after around ten days of fighting.
Previously it had been reported that Bin Laden had escaped south from Tora Bora into Pakistan, evading a blocking force of Pakistani troops and paramilitaries sent to secure the frontier. (ANI)
- Al Qaeda leaders were in Karachi on 9/11: WikiLeaks - Apr 25, 2011
- Osama's ex-cook pleads guilty for supporting terrorism - Jul 08, 2010
- Senior al-Qaeda member put 'jihad over sex' by taking "impotence" injections - Apr 27, 2011
- Osama bin Laden's cook sent to 14 years in prison - Aug 12, 2010
- Osama's will forbade his children from jihad, wives from remarrying - May 04, 2011
- Bin Laden's driver pleads guilty at Guantanamo - Jul 08, 2010
- US, Pakistan struck deal on Osama raid in 2001 - May 10, 2011
- Osama must have moved to Abbottabad recently: Pakistani envoy - May 02, 2011
- Ex-GITMO Libyan detainee is now a US ally of sorts - Apr 25, 2011
- Report Says Bin Laden Could Have Been Caught In Tora Bora - Nov 29, 2009
- Karzai holds 'secret talks' with Taliban to contain Haqqani network - Nov 01, 2010
- Pak's 'double-game' helped bin-Laden escape allied forces : Report - Sep 09, 2009
- Osama's bodyguard freed by Pakistan: Report - Sep 30, 2011
- Musharraf jogged past Osama's Abbottabad compound during military training - May 04, 2011
- Terror on celluloid: Documentaries, movies tracking Osama - May 02, 2011
Tags: 9 11 attacks, abu turab, afghani, american forces, ayman al zawahiri, dragnet, field commander, forces soldiers, harun, intelligence report, military field, mountain stronghold, namo, nur muhammad, pakistani troops, paramilitaries, secret intelligence, shirzad, target, tora bora