Melawa, Afghanistan | Tuesday
FIGHTERS loyal to Osama bin Laden around Tora Bora mountain in eastern Afghanistan agreed on Tuesday to surrender to militia forces, a local commander said.
Haji Mohammad Zaman, one of the three leaders of local groups hostile to bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, told journalists of the surrender following several hours of fierce fighting around the mountain.
Zaman said the mostly foreign al-Qaeda fighters had agreed to come down from the mountain at 8:00am (0330 GMT) on Wednesday.
”It’s finished,” Zaman told journalists. ”They told us: ‘We don’t want to fight with you, we surrender’.”
It was not immediately clear how many al-Qaeda forces on the mountain range were involved in the surrender. – Sapa-AFP