Bin Laden has taken permanent refuge in this Central Asian country since 1996, when he was forced to leave Sudan.
In the 1980s, bin Laden became a hero to Muslims for his tenacious fighting against Soviet troops that had invaded Afghanistan.
He reportedly runs several terrorist training camps and is protected by the Taliban, a fundamentalist Muslim group that controls almost all of Afghanistan.
His organization has sent trainers throughout Afghanistan to help promote his ideas about Islam, teach rebel fighting and plot assassination and terrorism attacks.