Jawbreaker was the code name given to first CIA team to enter Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. The team was also known as Northern Afghanistan Liaison Team (NALT)
The CIA had been in contact with the Northern Alliance for several years, during their campaign against the Taliban. It was clear to CIA planners that they key to success in Afghanistan would be to use the indigenous anti-Taliban forces, namely the Northern Alliance in the North, and the Pushtan tribes in the South, in combination with US air power and SOF on the ground. The CIA saw the Northern Alliance as the priority - if the Taliban could be defeated in the North, the South would soon follow. Before any US military action could effectively take place, the CIA would have to go in and link up with the Northern Alliance.
In late September, 2001, the seven man Jawbreaker team flew into Uzbekistan on a CIA L100 cargo plane. Once there they they prepared for the insertion into Afghanistan. On the 26th of September, Jawbreaker flew in a CIA-owned MI-17 helicopter, operated by Air Branch pilots, over the Hindu Kush mountains, into the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, where they were met by representatives from the Northern Alliance. The team quickly established a base of operations close to Barak, with secure comms back to CIA Counterterrorist Center (CTC).