A former officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has claimed that Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, escaped from Afghanistan disguised as a woman to evade US forces.

In an interview with news agency ANI, John Kiriakou, who once headed US counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, revealed that at one point American troops were convinced that bin Laden and senior Al-Qaeda leaders were trapped in the Tora Bora mountains.

Kiriakou said a translator working for the head of the US Central Command at the time turned out to be an undercover Al-Qaeda member.

The translator convinced General Tommy Franks that bin Laden was ready to surrender, er but first wanted time to move women and children to safety, requesting a delay until sunrise.

“We thought bin Laden was actually going to surrender,” Kiriakou said. “But when our troops reached the mountains in the morning, all the caves were empty.”

He added that bin Laden had deceived the forces and fled under the cover of darkness.

According to Kiriakou, “Bin Laden disguised himself in women’s clothing and left for Pakistan in the back of a pickup truck.”

The former CIA officer said that after the Tora Bora episode, US forces continued pursuing Al-Qaeda’s leadership inside Pakistan, where bin Laden remained in hiding for nearly a decade until he was killed in a secret US Navy SEAL operation in Abbottabad in May 2011.