Location of Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the September 11, 2001 attacks in an effort to avoid capture by U.S. and allied forces. Since Bin Laden eluded capture in the Battle of Tora Bora in 2001, his whereabouts were unclear, and various reports of his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also issued several public video and audio recordings. Conflicting and unconfirmed reports had variously indicated that bin Laden has died (by illness or in a military attack) or was alive and living in various countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iran.

President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Bin Laden was killed in a firefight with American military and Central Intelligence Agency operatives in Abbottabad in Pakistan. According to U.S. officials speaking to the New York Times, bin Laden resisted and he was shot in the head, and was later buried at sea. The Times, citing a senior administration official, stated that "The house at the end of a narrow dirt road was roughly eight times larger than other homes in the area, but had no telephone or Internet connections. When American operatives converged on the house on Sunday, Bin Laden 'resisted the assault force' and was killed in the middle of an intense gun battle," with details still unclear.

Alleged sightings

After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government demanded that the Taliban government of Afghanistan deliver bin Laden to face charges of terrorism. The Taliban refused to surrender bin Laden without proof or evidence of his involvement in the September 11 attacks and made a counter-offer to try bin Laden in an Islamic court or extradite him to a third-party country. Both of those offers were rejected by the U.S. government.

Rumors surfaced that bin Laden was killed or fatally injured during U.S. bombardments, most notably near Tora Bora, or that he died of natural causes. According to Gary Berntsen, in his 2005 book, Jawbreaker, a number of al-Qaeda detainees later confirmed that bin Laden had escaped Tora Bora into Pakistan via an eastern route through snow covered mountains in the area of Parachinar, Pakistan. The media reported that bin Laden suffered from a kidney disorder requiring him to have access to advanced medical facilities, possibly kidney dialysis. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command and a close bin Laden associate, is a physician and may have provided medical care to bin Laden.

Nasser al-Bahri, a bodyguard for bin Laden in the late 1990s, writes a book, published in French as Dans l'ombre de Ben Laden (In the Shadow of Bin Laden), with French journalist Georges Malbrunot of the newspaper Le Figaro. According to al-Bahri, bin Laden is hiding in the regions in Afghanistan or along the border with Pakistan. Malbrunot stated in an interview with Mark Colvin of PM that bin Laden is likely "protected by tribes which are very loyal to him. These tribes, bin Laden has known them for the last 20 years. He help them financially and materially in the '80s and these tribes also, I think it's an important factor, are more loyal to the religion than to the typical tribal character, which mean that it's not very easy to bribe them." Malbrunot noted that "He's protected by perhaps, he kept three or four people around him from al Qaeda, and he can move with the protection of the tribal leaders and tribal connections in this region along the Pakistan, the Waziristan.

Feathered Cocaine, a documentary by Icelandic filmmakers Om Marino Arnarson and Thorkell S. Hardarson dealing with the global falcon trade and featuring noted falconer Alan Parrot, claims that bin Laden, an avid falcon hunter, "has been taking part in the sport relatively freely" in Tehran in Iran since 2003.

June 7: The Israeli-based intelligence news service DEBKAfile reports that bin Laden and top lieutenants have been living in the remote mountainous town of Sabzevar in northeastern Iran for the past five years, and that Turkish intelligence officials were aware of it.

June 27: CIA Director Leon Panetta, speaking on ABC News' This Week, stated that that last time the CIA had "precise information" on bin Laden was "the early 2000s." Panetta states that "He is, as is obvious, in very deep hiding. He's in an area of the tribal areas of Pakistan, that is very difficult. The terrain is probably the most difficult in the world...All I can tell you is it's in the tribal areas...we know that he's located in that vicinity." Panetta states that "If we keep that pressure on, we think ultimately we can flush out bin Laden and Zawahiri and get after them.

2011

May 2: President Barack Obama reported that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Abbottabad in a U.S. operation. The exact (not verified) location of the compound is marked in Google Maps.