article_snippet: Osama Bin Laden holds a Kalashnikov rifle in Tora Bora, a mountainous region of Afghanistan, in November 1996.
article_snippet: Osama Bin Laden spent years developing a network of tunnels and caves in the area .
article_snippet: Atwan discovered the area during the anti-Soviet war in the 1980s, and decided to settle and set up the compound  in 1996 - when the Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan.
article_snippet: Bin Laden chose the location because of the location proximity to the border with Pakistan, while the rugged terrain meant it would be difficult for opposition forces to attack on foot.
article_snippet: According to reports Bin Laden would spend hours on long hikes through the White Mountains, always carrying a Russian-made Kalashnikov rifle by Bin Laden side.
article_snippet: Bodyguards, militants and children - including Bin Laden sons - would constantly follow Bin Laden around as Bin Laden looked for new hideout locations.
article_snippet: Bin Laden told Bin Laden family members his family members needed to know the terrain and the tunnel system inside out in case of an attack.
article_snippet: Bin Laden told Bin Laden sons his sons had to know well the intricate network that lay in the mountainside in case the area came under attack .
article_snippet: stone Bin Laden remained in the area until 2001.
article_snippet: During an assault in December, just months after the devastating September 11, attacks stone Bin Laden evaded capture by escaping on horseback and slipping into neighboring Pakistan or northern Afghanistan.
article_snippet: stone Bin Laden was helped by local warlord, Maulvi Yunus Khalis, who had fought with Bin Laden against the Red Army during the 1980s, according to officials including Michael Scheuer, former CIA pointman in the hunt for the al-Qaida chief.
article_snippet: Experts have asserted that Bin Laden was able to escape because of a lack of American willingness to commit more troops to the operation — at a time when the head of Al Qaeda was well within grasp.
article_snippet: After Bin Laden relocated, the hunt expanded in the Kunar border zone.
article_snippet: In 2003, US soldiers attacked the hideouts of Bin Laden military chief Kashmir Khan, slightly wounding Bin Laden.
article_snippet: As Western forces closed in on the network of compounds in 2001, Bin Laden escaped .
article_snippet: Bin Laden settled in the Afghan city of Jalalabad in 1996 - the Tora Bora hideaway was hidden up a long dirt track .
article_snippet: Bin Laden discovered the area during the anti-Soviet war in the 1980s the 1980s and moved there in 1996 .
highlights_snippet: he fled the area near the Pakistan border on horse back in 2001 when US forces closed in on he .