Back To Tora Bora

U.S. and Afghan air and ground forces pounded al Qaeda militants for a second day on Thursday in the Tora Bora mountains close to the Pakistan border where Osama bin Laden once fled in the wake of the 2001 invasion.

The steep slopes of the mountains are riddled with cave and tunnel complexes built by Afghan and Arab fighters during the 1980s struggle against the Soviet occupation and provide an ideal hideout for guerrilla fighters.

"It is a joint operation conducted by Afghan and U.S. forces, divided by ground and air assets," said Captain Vanessa Bowman, spokeswoman for U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

"Afghan and U.S. forces engaged al Qaeda and other violent extremist fighters in the eastern Afghanistan region in Tora Bora," she said, adding that the operation began on Wednesday.

Pakistan has deployed a "limited number" of regular army troops in Kurram tribal region in its side of the Tora Bora range, a security official said.

The key to success in this mission depends on being able to cut off escape routes for Taliban and al Qaeda elements. If the Pakistanis are putting up a token effort to block those routes, the Taliban and al Qaeda will simply slip back into Pakistan, regroup, and return to Afghanistan to cause mayhem again. Pakistan has to do more on its side of the border, but the Pakistanis also need to be flexible in allowing the US and Afghan forces to deal with those retreating Taliban and al Qaeda in hot pursuit across the border. If the rules of engagement don't allow engaging those forces across the border, the Taliban and al Qaeda will simply cross the border to escape with their lives. Such a system makes a mockery of the efforts by the Afghan and US forces, who would surely crush those Taliban and al Qaeda if the Pakistanis were not only less accommodating to the Taliban and al Qaeda in places like Warizistan and the NWFP, but actively fought those groups and worked in conjunction with the US and Afghan forces to deal decisively with al Qaeda and the Taliban. Unfortunately, Musharraf is not in a position to make that happen, and instead offers up half measures.

Bill Roggio has more analysis.