Battle of Tora Bora

Battle of Tora Bora
	Part of the invasion of Afghanistan
	; Location of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, ; 34°07′N 70°13′E / 34.117°N 70.217°E
Date	November 30 – December 17, 2001
Location	Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
Result	US-led coalition victory Beginning of the Taliban insurgency; Osama bin Laden escaped; Tora Bora stronghold destroyed;
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 ; Dalton Fury; Gary Berntsen; Michael Boyce; Reinhard Günzel	Osama bin Laden; Ayman al-Zawahiri; Abdul Latif Nasir (POW) (alleged); Mullah Omar; 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 was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from November 30 – December 17, 2001, during the final stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was launched by the United States and its allies with the objective to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant organization al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden were suspected of being responsible for the September 11 attacks three months prior. Tora Bora (Pashto: تورا بورا; Black Cave) is located in the Spīn Ghar mountain range near the Khyber Pass. The U.S. stated that al-Qaeda had its headquarters there and that it was bin Laden's location at the time.