Paktia province, Afghanistan—April 11, 2005: In an effort to root out al Qaeda fighters from a mountainside retreat, the Afghan National Army calls for a little help from above. It comes in the form of merciless air strikes.

What al Qaeda lacks in technology or manpower, they make up for in their intimate knowledge of the Afghan terrain, particularly the mountainsides rife with fortified bunkers. Historically, fighting from a cave complex is a winning strategy for al Qaeda. The Soviets lost their bid to invade Afghanistan when they underestimated the crude underground holes. From there, Afghan fighters engaged their enemy from a center of operations unlike any other.

Because al Qaeda supporters have fought for decades from the entryways of shadowy caves, today’s rebels are well-schooled on the architecture and vantage points that make the terrorists hard to find and nearly impossible kill. But the Afghan National Army’s alignment with the US military means they’re privy to a wealth of modern weaponry and military advancements to counter the terrorists’ best laid plans.

On the highway to Gardez, insurgents retreat quickly after firing two RPGs at a passing vehicle. It’s possible they are making a statement by taking a few potshots at the vehicle, but it’s also possible they’re laying bait for the Afghan Army. When the soldiers follow the terrorists into the highlands, the clash is taken into enemy turf, culminating into a mountainside firefight that rages for hours, producing no enemy casualties and no sign of surrender by al Qaeda. The army troops are skilled and adept in battle, but the enemy is deeply embedded.

Resolved to win the battle, the Afghan Army takes coordinates of al Qaeda’s positions. The US military commands the airspace above Afghanistan, and at the request of the Afghans, US bombers take to the skies in retaliation.

The Afghan Army produces precise coordinates for the bombers and, in a swift campaign; the air strikes decimate the enemy bunkers. 12 al Qaeda fighters are dead, like hundreds before them in aerial attacks that rain down from the Afghan sky. Some bombs explode at ground level, releasing deadly power across the land; some drive in 20 feet down in the ground before detonating and destroying deep dwellings; others are designed to demolish cave entrances on contact. It takes these specialized, finely tuned weapons to uproot Afghanistan’s land—vast and mysterious, where danger lies within.