40 operators from A squadron Delta Force were forward deployed to Tora Bora and would assume tactical command of the battle from the CIA, with the Delta squadron were a dozen of so members of M squadron SBS, members of MI6 also deployed to the region alongside the SBS. The Delta operators were deployed in small teams embedded within the militias and sent their own Recce operators out to pick up Bin Laden's trail, eventually with the assistance of Green Berets and CIA operators cajoling the AMF, progress was made. The Delta squadron commander agreed with the Jawbreaker assessment of the situation and requested blocking forces or the scattering of aerial landmines to deny mountain passes to the enemy and since the deployment of the Ranger battalion had been denied, he requested that his operators carryout their proposed role but all his requests were denied by General Franks. On December 12, two weeks into the battle, AMF commander Zaman opened negotiations with the trapped al-Qaeda and Taliban in Tora Bora, despite the frustrations of the Americans and British, a temporary truce was called until 0800hr the following morning to allow al-Qaeda to supposedly agree to surrender terms by Shura (group meeting). This was a ruse played to allow as many as several hundred al-Qaeda and members of the 055 Brigade to escape over night toward Pakistan.