The first six months of the war in Afghanistan were incredibly confused. Few journalists or civilians had access to the main events and the result was the creation of many urban myths that persist to this day. This book reveals the truth behind Operation Enduring Freedom, its objectives, successes, failures and consequences. Tim Ripley has discovered what actually happened in the first six months of this US-led intervention. He reveals the clandestine US and UK reconnaissance efforts before hostilities commenced on 7 October 2001, secret US UAV and drone operations, RAF Canberra and U-2 spy flights and details of initial combat between Taliban and Northern Alliance ground forces.

This is a definitive account of the first six months of the military campaign in Afghanistan that saw the initial air and special drive to unseat the Taliban regime, the launching of search and destroy operations to hunt down Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda organization and the setting up of President Hamid Karzai’s government in Kabul. These events were the catalyst for the subsequent and continuing war in that far-off troubled land.