Late last week high-level Americans still believed that bin Laden was in the area of Tora Bora. But nobody was certain, and the obvious worry was that some Qaeda leaders had already escaped into tribal areas of Pakistan. According to both Afghan and U.S. sources, scores if not hundreds of Qaeda fighters had already fled. “The Arabs are as hardy as animals,” says an admiring Afghan foe. “They can travel through snow, through mountains, through forests. They can go anywhere.”
But will they be welcome? Pakistan has mobilized its armed forces along the 1,344-mile-long border with Afghanistan to help prevent a Great Escape. In particular, more than 4,000 soldiers have been deployed in the semiautonomous tribal agencies, where bin Laden has many supporters. Javad Iqbal, Pakistan’s secretary for Home and Tribal Affairs, said that 10 to 15 men guard each post along narrow mountain passes. If bin Laden attempted to cross over, he insisted, it would be “like presenting himself on a platter to U.S. troops. It’s as good as death.” Last week Pakistani troops arrested 28 Qaeda members at various border points. In addition, the four main tribes in the region agreed to take responsibility for their respective areas in blocking any exit by bin Laden, Mullah Mohammed Omar or Qaeda fighters.
To help block escape routes, the United States has deployed hundreds of Special Forces in the area of Tora Bora. (According to one U.S. source, they’ve been leaving “calling cards” for surviving Qaeda and Taliban fighters: New York Police and Fire Department patches with names of WTC victims.) Are they too late to catch or kill their main quarry? “Osama and [Ayman al-] Zawahiri already left for Pakistan, many days before,” said an Afghan villager named Dad Mohammed. “I think they were headed for Chechnya.” Could be. But then again, it was just as likely that bin Laden was trapped in a cave, where the only escape is to the other world.
