The incident reportedly occurred just before the Siege of Kunduz, which saw the city fall into the hands of the Northern Alliance and the United States during the opening phase of the War in Afghanistan.

[9] A CIA official interviewed by Seymour Hersh claimed that United States Central Command set up a special air corridor within Afghanistan, "to help insure the safety of the Pakistani rescue flights.

Carlotta Gall, citing Afghan intelligence officials who monitored Taliban radio traffic during the siege, put the number at 2,000.

[12] An American intelligence analyst interviewed by Ahmed Rashid estimated the number at "certainly hundreds and perhaps as many as one thousand people,"[9] while Brajesh Mishra, India's National Security Advisor, believed that 5,000 Pakistanis and Taliban were evacuated.

[9] The revelation that the U.S. had allegedly acquiesced to the escape of individuals including the top leadership of the Taliban and Al Qaeda was a controversial and politically contentious topic within the United States and her aligned partners, that sparked off a debate in the western media and elicited denials of knowledge of this event from top Bush administration officials including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.