Death of Osama bin Laden

Death of Osama bin Laden was reported by international news media, as taking place on Monday, May 2, 2011, at approximately 02:30 UTC, and officially announced by U.S. President Barack Obama about an hour later. At about 1:00 A.M. local time on May 2, (19:00 UTC, May 1), United States military forces shot and killed Osama bin Laden after a 40-minute firefight in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and then seized his body. The operation was carried out by 25 members of the US Navy SEAL DEVGRU unit under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command forces in Pakistan working with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

After careful monitoring of a compound suspected to be bin Laden's Pakistani residence, U.S. military forces were sent across the border of Afghanistan to launch the attack. Pakistani officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by the U.S. military.

The body was recovered by the U.S. military and was in its possession. ABC News has reported that the body has been identified by DNA testing. However, Reuters reports that DNA test results will be available in the next few days and that bin Laden's body was identified using facial recognition techniques.

Raid

The raid was carried out jointly by 20–25 helicopter-borne United States Navy SEALs under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command in cooperation with the CIA. According to Obama administration officials, U.S. officials did not share information about the raid with the government of Pakistan before the operation but did notify Pakistan after its successful completion. According to the Pakistani foreign ministry, the operation was conducted entirely by the U.S. forces, however, Pakistan ISI officials stated that they were also present at what they called a joint operation.

The SEALs stormed the compound at approximately 1 a.m. local time (20:00, May 1 (UTC)) and engaged bin Laden and his men in a firefight. Osama bin Laden was shot in the head. The raid lasted about 40 minutes and three other men present at the compound were also reportedly killed in the operation, including an adult son of bin Laden. The helicopter that the SEALs used to breach the mansion walls suffered a mechanical breakdown and could not fly the team out. They burned the helicopter to secure intelligence and carried out bin Laden's body out of the compound on foot.

Locating Osama bin Laden

Main Post: Location of Osama bin Laden

American intelligence officials discovered the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden by tracking one of his couriers. Information was collected from Guantánamo Bay detainees, who gave intelligence officers the courier's pseudonym and said that he was a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In 2007, U.S. officials discovered the courier's real name and in 2009, where he lived. In August 2010, the courier's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was located at34.187666°N 73.24262°ECoordinates: 34.187666°N 73.24262°E. Using satellite photos and intelligence reports, the CIA surmised the inhabitants of the mansion. In September, the CIA concluded that the compound was "custom built to hide someone of significance" and that bin Laden's residence there was very likely. Officials guessed that he was living there with his youngest wife.

Allegations against Pakistan

Numerous allegations were made that the government of Pakistan was involved in shielding bin Laden. Aspects of the incident that have fueled the allegations include the close location of bin Laden's heavily fortified compound to the Pakistan Military Academy, that the United States apparently did not notify the Pakistani authorities before the operation, and the alleged double standards of Pakistan regarding the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Pakistani-born British MP Khalid Mahmood stated that he was "flabbergasted and shocked" after he learned that bin Laden was living in a city with thousands of Pakistani troops, reviving questions about alleged links between al-Qaeda and elements in Pakistan's security forces.

Aftermath

An unnamed Pakistani government official confirmed to Agence France-Presse on May 2 that bin Laden was killed in the operation. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan issued a statement on May 2 denying that bin Laden had been killed. Hours later, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that if bin Laden had, in fact, been killed, it was, "a great victory for us because martyrdom is the aim of all of us" and vowed to take revenge on Pakistan and the United States.

Bin Laden's body was buried at sea less than a day after his death. A burial at sea also leaves no definitive location, thus preventing a burial site from becoming a "terrorist shrine". The Guardian has questioned whether bin Laden's grave would have been a shrine, as that concept is rejected by Wahhabism. It quotes a U.S. official explaining the difficulty of finding a country that would accept the burial of bin Laden in its soil.