Paktia province is part of the Shah-e-Kot valley: a desolate, mountainous region not far from the multitude of fortified bunkers in the mountains of Tora Bora. Like Tora Bora, the mountains in Paktia province are peppered with hollowed-out holding cells for al Qaeda fighters.

For Allied forces unfamiliar with the unmapped cave networks, the terrain is a harsh obstacle to overcome: a landscape riddled with enormous peaks and steep slopes that make the area nearly impossible to penetrate without massive manpower. Desolate and mysterious, Paktia province is referred to by Mohammed Isshaq, the security chief fro Gardez, as “the last pocket of al Qaeda.” Here, Isshaq says, the terrorists will not leave without tremendous resistance, fortified by a terrain that, in his estimate, is more dangerous than Tora Bora