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Tora Bora Falls

December 18, 2001

Anti-Taliban forces have taken the main al Qaeda positions in Tora Bora. Osama bin Laden remains at large. The U.S. says the war in Afghanistan will not end without the capture of Osama bin Laden.

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Northern alliance fighters overlooking the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan (file picture)Image: AP

Afghan fighters on Sunday took Tora Bora. They were backed by U.S. air power and American and British commandos on the ground.

American warplanes bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in the Tora Bora ridges and canyons of the eastern White Mountains throughout the night.

Afghan frontline commander Haji Zahir said the anti-Taliban forces had taken all the main positions of the al Qaeda terrorist network in the region.

After the capture of Tora Bora, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said "We've destroyed al Qaeda in Afghanistan and we have ended the role of Afghanistan as a haven for terrorist activity."

Powell acknowledged, however, that Osama bin Laden himself remained at large.

U.S. President George W. Bush made it the central aim of the Afghanistan campaign to bring bin Laden to justice.

Bin Laden is believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, in which nearly 3,300 people were killed.

Taliban on the run

Tora Bora was the last stronghold of the Taliban in Afghanistan. According to U.S. officials, some 2,000 Taliban fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden are now on the run. Many of them could be trying to escape across the border to Pakistan.

There have been unconfirmed reports for days that Osama bin Laden may already have slipped past Pakistani border patrols.

Peacekeepers for Afghanistan

The United Nations wants a peacekeeping force for Afghanistan in place by Saturday. On that day, an Afghan interim government is due to take power.

Britain has said it is willing to lead the international peacekeeping force. Its size could prove contentious, however.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday estimated the force would need 3,000 to 5,000 troops. But Afghanistan's interim Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim has insisted the force should not exceed 1,000.

Diplomatic presence

On Monday, the U.S. re-established a diplomatic presence in Kabul. U.S. Marines raised the Stars and Stripes over the U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time since 1989. U.S. diplomats had fled the city shortly before the end of the Soviet occupation.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Washington would operate a liaison office in Kabul, pending the establishment of full diplomatic relations.

On Monday, Turkey also reopened its embassy in Kabul.