Al Qaeda, Taliban presence in Pakistan's North-west frontier: "The remote and inaccessible terrain of these forbidding mountains renders operations against Al Qaeda logistically complicated. There are few proper roads, and residents travel on narrow trails and paths. But local support may be the fugitives' strongest defense."

""After the Tora Bora fighting, they were here everywhere," says a local tribesman. "Their red-colored Land Cruisers, satellite phones, horses, dollars - everything was visible. Now they are visible only to the locals.""

"Despite their largesse, these men also foster a climate of fear. On the slightest suspicion, anybody suspected of passing information to the authorities can end up dead... Local residents also talk about the death of another man, saying a note attached to his body read: "Agent of America. This will be the fate of American agents.""

Al Qaeda, Taliban presence in Pakistan's North-west frontier: "The remote and inaccessible terrain of these forbidding mountains renders operations against Al Qaeda logistically complicated. There are few proper roads, and residents travel on narrow trails and paths. But local support may be the fugitives' strongest defense."

""After the Tora Bora fighting, they were here everywhere," says a local tribesman. "Their red-colored Land Cruisers, satellite phones, horses, dollars - everything was visible. Now they are visible only to the locals.""

"Despite their largesse, these men also foster a climate of fear. On the slightest suspicion, anybody suspected of passing information to the authorities can end up dead... Local residents also talk about the death of another man, saying a note attached to his body read: "Agent of America. This will be the fate of American agents.""