Narrow tracks cling to bleak, rocky slopes. Some lead to caves hidden away in crevices or under jagged overhangs. Others climb thousands of meters to obscure mountain passes. Routes used by smugglers for centuries could be Osama bin Laden's way out.
A former Afghan guerrilla commander who lived in mountain hide-outs for years while fighting Soviet invaders says there are many such places for bin Laden to shelter in.
Ghulam Mohammed also thinks it would be easy for the US' top terror suspect and his allies to hike over tortuous passes through the mountains and sneak into sympathetic areas of western Pakistan.
In an AP interview, Mohammed said the same caves that protected Afghan guerrillas from Soviet troops in the 1980s can shelter al-Qaeda fighters hiding from US commandos trying to crush the network blamed for the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The footpaths to these hide-outs weave treacherously through rock outcroppings, and anyone approaching is easily seen, he said.
Mohammed described conditions on Maroo Mountain, where he served during the Soviet war with Hezb-e-Islami, one of two guerrilla groups that had bases hiddenthere.
The mountain links Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province to Pakistan's remote Tirah Valley.
Nangarhar is no longer under control of bin Laden's Taliban allies, but his old friend Mullah Yunus Khalis still controls large areas in the province, where the terrorist mastermind owns a farm.
Security guards at the farm have said bin Laden was there just before the US bombing began Oct. 7. The guards said members of bin Laden's family left with other Arabs and were believed headed for the Tora-Bora camp.
They could head from there to the Tirah Valley, which is a perfect hiding place and an ideal transit point for an escape attempt.
Its residents have kept isolated for more than 1,000 years -- heavily armed tribesmen blocked attempts by Pakistani authorities in the last decade to build a road there.
During the Soviet war, the valley was a route for US-backed guerrillas to move weapons and supplies from Pakistan. The walk through the arid, rock-strewn valley still takes three full days.
The mountain pass from the valley into Afghanistan rises to nearly 3,000m and is a dangerous climb that only mules and people on foot can manage.
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