Battle of Tora Bora (2017)
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The Battle of Tora Bora in June 2017 was a military engagement for the cave complex of
Tora Bora Tora Bora ( ps, توره بوړه, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber ...
and its surroundings in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. Fighting took place between the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
(ISIL-K) and forces opposed to it, namely the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
, militias formed by the population of the Pachir Aw Agam District, and the
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
. After heavy clashes ISIL-K forces initially succeeded in capturing Tora Bora from the Taliban on 13–14 June 2017, but Afghan government forces retook the cave complex by 17 June.


Background

Although Tora Bora, former stronghold of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
, was cleared of Taliban forces during a
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
-led operation in 2001, the militant group soon retook the mountain stronghold. Since then, Tora Bora has functioned as important base for the
Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban o ...
, while the area around it mostly fell under the group's influence. The Taliban's control over much of Nangarhar Province's hinterland was challenged upon the foundation of ISIL-K in 2015, however, and the two militant organizations began a brutal conflict for dominance. Meanwhile, the Afghan government's control in these remote areas was mostly limited to some outposts and population centers. Nevertheless, pro-government self-defense groups and tribal militias did emerge to fight against all insurgent groups in the area. The Pachir Aw Agam District, where Tora Bora is located, was home to both Taliban as well as government followers, and thus quickly became a target for ISIL-K, which began to terrorize the district's population through killings, abductions, raids and looting. As result, the locals became extremely hostile and opposed to ISIL-K. On 13 April 2017, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
bombed and largely destroyed the cave systems in
Achin District Achin ( ps, اچين ولسوالۍ) is a district in southern Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, on the border with Pakistan. Its population is 100% Pashtun. Achin is home to the Shinwari tribe, one of the largest Pashtun tribes. It was a stro ...
that were used by ISIL-K as main base. As result, the group was deprived of its sanctuary; according to Afghan politician and former warlord Hazrat Ali, this caused ISIL-K to seek a new refuge. Probably due to its strategic location the Islamic State militants chose Tora Bora as prospective new headquarters, and moved to capture it from the Taliban.


Battle


ISIL-K capture of Tora Bora

ISIL-K began its offensive to capture the mountain stronghold on 6 June with allegedly up to 1,000 militants. The head of the Afghan
National Directorate of Security prs, ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی , nativename_r = , seal = National Directorate of Security Logo.png , seal_width = , seal_caption = Seal of the National Directorate of Security , formed = , precedin ...
in Nangarhar Province accused
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
of supporting the ISIL-K offensive. After the Islamic State fighters began to assault the Taliban positions, local militias joined the fight against ISIL-K. Although they traditionally supported the government and opposed the Taliban, these militias saw ISIL-K as a greater threat due to the group's brutal reputation. It remains unclear, however, whether the militias directly aided the Taliban or operated separately. In consequence of the resulting clashes, about 500 families were displaced. After three days of heavy fighting in the mountains, the first ISIL-K assault was beaten back by the Taliban and pro-government forces. Suffering "dozens" of casualties, the attackers were forced to scatter and retreat. Despite this setback, ISIL-K soon regrouped and renewed their offensive. Calls by the locals for the government to provide aid to them went unheeded, and on late 13 June the Islamic State fighters eventually managed to capture much territory around Tora Bora after fierce fighting against both the local militias and the Taliban. On early 14 June, the Taliban defenses at the mountain stronghold completely collapsed, and the group's fighters fled from the area. Without the Taliban forces to support them, the local militias of Tora Bora were no longer able to hold their positions and also retreated, taking their families with them. Though both the Taliban as well as some pro-government sources denied that all of Tora Bora had fallen to ISIL-K, and maintained that Taliban elements still held out in the region, local villagers as well as the Afghan military reported that the Islamic State forces had set up their flag and heavy artillery on the mountains over Tora Bora. After taking control of Tora Bora, ISIL-K proceeded to advance against the government in the wider Pachir Aw Agam District, with one commander of the group stating: "We are in Tora Bora but this is not the end. The plan is to take more territory from the government and the Taliban." According to a local reporter of
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
, the whole district was on the verge of collapse. ISIL-K began to propagate its victory at Tora Bora on its Radio Khilafat, while urging locals who had fled to return to their homes. According to security analyst and counter-terrorism expert David Otto, however, the area around Tora Bora was so hostile to ISIL-K and the Taliban so entrenched there that the former group would not be able to hold it for long.


Government offensive

Before the Taliban could launch a counter-attack, however, President
Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in L ...
ordered the
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
's 201st Corps to launch their own offensive against Tora Bora on 14 June. The army quickly moved against ISIL-K, and by 16 June had reportedly begun to push the militants back. On the next day, the Afghan National Army stormed the Tora Bora cave complex from the foot of the mountains, while
Commandos Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
were
airdrop An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tro ...
ped onto the mountain peaks. The stronghold quickly fell, while the Afghan government forces proceeded with clearing operations in the area and its surroundings. On 25 June, the Afghan
Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
officially declared that ISIL-K had been completely evicted from the area around Tora Bora, and that the cave system would be turned into a military base of the Afghan military.


Aftermath

In July 2017, the Afghan National Directorate of Security financed and armed a new militia of around 300 locals from Pachir Aw Agam District to combat ISIL-K in the area around Tora Bora. Meanwhile, ISIL-K had renewed its operations in the Tora Bora region, reportedly raiding and destroying local Taliban outposts.


References

{{coord missing, Afghanistan 2017 in Afghanistan Tora Bora (2017)
Tora Bora Tora Bora ( ps, توره بوړه, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber ...
Tora Bora (2017) Tora Bora (2017) June 2017 events in Afghanistan