IS captures Tora Bora
Islamic State fighters have captured Tora Bora, a mountain cave complex in eastern Afghanistan that was once the hideout of Osama bin Laden, officials said Thursday, despite pressure on the jihadists from US-led forces.
The militants seized the territory from the Taliban this week, in a strategic and symbolic victory just two months after the US military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever used on a nearby IS stronghold.
The fall of Tora Bora after days of heavy fighting, which forced hundreds of residents to flee, marks a setback to the US military which has vowed to defeat IS's local affiliate this year as they make inroads into Afghanistan.
"Tora Bora has fallen into the hands of IS fighters," government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. "Afghan troops last night launched an operation to take it back from IS."
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