flew back to Oman. Several nights later, beginning on November 16, a series of missions codenamed Operation Relentless Strike took place. On the first night, the Rangers drove modified HMMWVs and Land Rovers to secure a remote desert airstrip. The Little Birds then flew in on MC-130s and conducted a search and destroy mission along Highway 1. The Little Birds conducted similar search and destroy missions over the next several nights. Battle of Tarinkot On November 14, ODA 574 and Hamid Karzai inserted into Uruzgan Province via 4 MH-60K helicopters with a small force of guerrillas. Karzai was the leader of the Pashtun Popalzai tribe and had been an enemy of the Taliban since they assassinated his father in 1999. He had entered Afghanistan with three other men on October 9, but was almost killed by the Taliban, and was extracted by the CIA on November 4. Once he returned he began to move towards the town of Tarinkot. Responding to the approach of Karzai's forces, the inhabitants of the town of Tarinkot revolted and expelled their Taliban administrators. Karzai traveled to Tarinkot to meet with the town elders. While he was there, the Taliban marshaled a force of 300–500 men to retake the town. Karzai's small force, plus the American contingent, deployed in the town's front to block the Taliban's advance. Relying heavily on close air support, the American and Afghan force managed to drive the Taliban away from the town. The defeat of the Taliban at Tarinkot was an important victory for Karzai, who used it to recruit more men to his fledgling guerrilla band. His force would grow in size to a peak of around 800 men. Soon afterwards, they left Tarinkot and began advancing on Kandahar. Fall of Kunduz Task Force Dagger's attention focused on the last northern Taliban stronghold, Kunduz. As the bombardment at Tora Bora grew, the Siege of Kunduz continued. General Daoud and ODA 586 had initiated massive coalition airstrikes to demoralize the Taliban defenders. After 11 days of fighting and bombardment, Taliban fighters surrendered to Northern Alliance forces on November 23. Shortly before the surrender, Pakistani aircraft arrived to evacuate intelligence and military personnel who had been aiding the Taliban's fight against the Northern Alliance, including Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders. The details of the airlift are disputed. Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh alleged that up to five thousand people were evacuated, while Karzai