Battle of Tora Bora

Battle of Tora Bora
	Part of the invasion of Afghanistan and the manhunt for Osama bin Laden
	; U.S. air strikes on Tora Bora during the battle
Date	November 30 – December 17, 2001
Location	Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
Result	Coalition's partial victory Tora Bora stronghold destroyed; Osama bin Laden escaped; Beginning of the Taliban insurgency;
Belligerents
Islamic State of Afghanistan; United States; United Kingdom; Germany	Al-Qaeda; Taliban 055 Brigade; Turkistan Islamic Party; Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Commanders and leaders
Bismillah Khan; Hazrat Ali; Abdul Zahir Qadir; Mohammed Zaman; Tommy Franks ; Tom Greer; Gary Berntsen; Michael Boyce; Reinhard Günzel	Osama bin Laden; Ayman al-Zawahiri; Abdul Latif Nasir (POW) (alleged); Hasan Mahsum; Sufi Muhammad
Strength
2,500 Afghan Eastern Shura fighters; 70 U.S. 1st SFOD-D members; 10 CIA SAD officers; 10 5th Special Forces Group members; 52 Special Boat Service members; 10 Secret Intelligence Service agents; Kommando Spezialkräfte ; other coalition forces (aircraft)	~1,500–2,000
Casualties and losses
Afghan militias: Unknown; Coalition: None	220 killed, 60 captured

The Battle of Tora Bora occurred from 30 November to 17 December 2001, as part of the United States invasion of Afghanistan during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). It took place around the cave complex of Tora Bora in the Safed Koh mountain range, near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan. In the battle, the U.S., U.K., Germany, and allied Afghan troops fought al-Qaeda; the Taliban, who controlled the country's government; and other Islamic extremists.

Led by Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda enacted terrorist attacks against the U.S. on 11 September 2001 (9/11). The U.S. quickly launched a global "war on terror", which included a manhunt for bin Laden, and the invasion of Afghanistan, where the Taliban had allowed al-Qaeda to headquarter. The invasion began on 7 October 2001; the U.S. was supported by a multinational coalition.

On 10 November, the CIA tracked bin Laden to Tora Bora. In the 1980s, the complex had been used by the Afghan mujahideen to repel the Soviet soldiers who were invading Afghanistan. Prior to 2001, Bin Laden had been fortifying it for years. On 30 November, the coalition began attacking the complex, with the objective to capture or kill bin Laden.

Bin Laden escaped Tora Bora, likely on 15 December, and crossed the Pakistani border soon afterwards. The battle was the last time the U.S. knew his specific location until 2010, when they discovered his safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The U.S. may have had a chance of killing bin Laden during the battle; near the start, CIA officer Gary Berntsen asked American General Tommy Franks to send a thousand Army Rangers into the complex to cut off bin Laden from crossing the border. Franks denied the request. The U.S. denied that bin Laden escaped Tora Bora during the battle until 2005.

With the coalition victory, they had toppled the Emirate. The Taliban regrouped and formed an insurgency against the coalition-installed successor government and its international allies.