WASHINGTON/ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan – Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
was killed in a U.S.-led operation involving helicopters and ground forces in
Pakistan on Sunday, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of
the September 11 attacks.
U.S. officials said bin Laden was found in a million-dollar compound in the
upscale town of Abbottabad, 60 km (35 miles) north of the Pakistani capital
Islamabad. A source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the
head.
"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama declared in a hastily called,
late-night White House speech announcing the death of the elusive head of the
militant Islamic group behind a series of deadly bombings across the world.
Leaders worldwide praised the killing as a dramatic success in the war
against al Qaeda, although many analysts cautioned it was too soon to say bin
Laden's death would mark a turning point in the battle against a highly
fractured network of militants.
Jubilant, flag-waving celebrations erupted in Washington and New York after
Obama's announcement. It was the biggest national security victory for the
president since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political
boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.
Obama may now also find it easier to wind down the nearly decade-old war in
Afghanistan, begun after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and
Washington that killed nearly 3,000.
But the operation could complicate relations with Pakistan, already frayed
over U.S. drone strikes in the west of the country and the jailing of a CIA
contractor accused of killing two Pakistani men.
A U.S. official said Pakistani authorities were told the details of the raid
after it had taken place.
The revelation bin Laden was living in style in a mansion will also put
Pakistani officials under pressure to explain how he could have been right under
their noses. Residents in Abbottabad said a Pakistani military training academy
is near the compound.
"For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and
Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad,"
said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst.
U.S. officials said American forces were led to the fortress-like three-story
building in Abbottabad after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's
most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured
after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers
trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with or protected by bin
Laden," a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters in
Washington.
Bin Laden was finally found after authorities discovered in August 2010 that
the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and
extremely high-security building in Pakistan, officials said.
"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what
we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior administration official
said.
"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high
confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target. The experts
who worked this issue for years assessed that there was a strong probability
that the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," another
administration official said.
Bin Laden and three adult men, including a son of bin Laden, were killed
along with a woman who was used as a shield by a male combatant, officials
said.
The New York Times said bin Laden's body was taken to Afghanistan and then
buried at sea.
RESIDENT WOKEN BY BLASTS, GUNFIRE
The operation took under 40 minutes. A U.S. helicopter was lost due to a
mechanical problem and its crew and assault force safely evacuated, officials
said. No Americans were harmed in the operation, Obama said.
"After midnight, a large number of commandos encircled the compound. Three
helicopters were hovering overhead," said Nasir Khan, a resident of the town.
"All of a sudden there was firing toward the helicopters from the ground.
There was intense firing and then I saw one of the helicopters crash," said
Khan, who had watched the dramatic scene unfold from his rooftop.
Authorities said bin Laden's hideaway, built in 2005, was about eight times
larger than other homes in the area. It had security features including 12- to
18-foot walls topped with barbed wire, internal walls for extra privacy, and
access controlled through two security gates.
It had no telephone or Internet connection.
"It is not a surprise that bin Laden was captured in an urban heartland,"
said Sajjan Gohel of the Asia Pacific Foundation.
"Many of al-Qaeda's senior leaders have been captured in Pakistani cities. It
had become a myth that the al Qaeda leadership were hiding in caves in the
tribal areas." Reuters
