The first clandestine CIA team operates inside Afghanistan (March 13-21), making contact with Ahmed Massoud, the leader of the so-called “Northern Alliance” that is fighting the Taliban.
George Tenet later writes: “Five times in the two years prior to 9/11, CIA teams deployed to the Panjshir Valley of Northern Afghanistan to meet with various tribal warlords, and particularly with Ahmed Shah Masood … We bolstered Masood’s intelligence capability against bin Ladin and al Qaeda.” (At the Center of the Storm, p. 207)
Day: March 13, 2021