Bin Laden Killed by CIA-Led SEALs Team, Death Hailed as Blow to Al Qaeda

Years of tracking the world's most-wanted terrorist culminated Sunday afternoon, when a CIA-led Navy SEALs squadron of just a few dozen men stormed Usama bin Laden's compound and killed him. 

President Obama announced the results of the top-secret operation late Sunday night, calling it the most significant blow to Al Qaeda to date. Within hours, the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed more than 3,000 people was buried at sea. 

Though the president offered only sparse information on the mission and the intelligence that led to it, details have since emerged about the heroic actions of the small, elite team dispatched to Pakistan by an order from the president last week. 

According to officials, a 40-man Navy SEALs squadron raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. As officials described it, the raid was swift -- the team was on the compound for less than 40 minutes and did not run into any local authorities during the firefight. 

At the start of the operation, four U.S.-owned and operated helicopters launched from a base in Afghanistan and dropped about 24 men onto the grounds of the compound. One helicopter suffered a "hard landing" after experiencing a "flight control issue" and had to be destroyed on

At first, bin Laden was asked to surrender. But a military official said he resisted. In the end, he was killed in the ensuing firefight with a bullet to the head. 

No Americans were hurt or killed during the raid. Besides bin Laden, three other men were killed, one of whom is believed to be bin Laden's 24-year-old son. One woman used as a human shield was also killed, and two other women were injured. 

The operation itself stemmed from a tip that came to Obama's desk last August. Specifically, U.S. officials were tracking an Al Qaeda courier in Pakistan, based on information obtained from multiple detainees, and determined the location of the compound in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated. It was built on a large plot of land, and was heavily secured, with 12-to-18-foot walls topped with barbed wire, officials said. Intelligence analysts determined the compound "was custom-built to hide someone of significance," a senior administration official said. 

After months of analyzing the information, U.S. officials began holding high-level meetings about how to proceed earlier this year. 

On April 29, Obama gave the order to conduct the operation. The actual mission was supposed to happen Saturday night, but it was delayed due to weather. 

The highly trained special forces unit had been practicing the raid a week in advance. 

In announcing the successful completion, Obama said Sunday night that bin Laden's death "is a testament to the greatness of our country." 

"For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda's leader and symbol," Obama said. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al Qaeda." 

In a message to employees, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Monday that "we have rid the world of the most infamous terrorist of our time." 

"Nothing will ever compensate for the pain and suffering inflicted by this mass murderer and his henchmen. But just as evil never rests, neither does good. May the fact that Usama Bin Ladin no longer inhabits the earth be a source of comfort for the thousands of families, here in America and around the globe, who mourn the victims of Al Qaeda's barbarity," he wrote. 

He added that while bin Laden is dead, "Al Qaeda is not." 

In the wake of bin Laden's death, authorities around the world are being urged to take security precautions. One source said officials are concerned bin Laden's death could incite violence or terrorist acts against U.S. personnel overseas. 

The State Department issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens abroad overnight, citing "the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counterterrorism activity in Pakistan." 

Obama said Americans must continue to be "vigilant." But he said the death of the architect of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil should be welcomed around the world. 

"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims," Obama said. "So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity." 

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Justin Fishel and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

Osama bin Laden is dead, Obama announces

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind al-Qaida, is dead, President Obama announces from the White House

• Declan Walsh in Islamabad, Richard Adams in Washington and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 May 2011 04.00 BST
• Article history

Osama bin Laden has been killed by US operatives in Pakistan, President Obama announced. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Osama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world's most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation, President Barack Obama has announced.

In an address to the nation, President Obama said Bin Laden was killed in a "targeted operation" in Abbottabad, a highland town north of Islamabad, last night.

The operation started with an intelligence lead last August, and culminated in an operation involving a "small team of Americans". "After a firefight they killed bin Laden."

None of the Americans was killed. Pakistani co-operation "helped to lead us to him" he said.

Osama's body is in possession of the US, according to the first reports from the US television networks.

As the news spread, crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House in Washington DC, singing the national anthem and cheering.

President Obama made the highly unusual Sunday night live statement to announce the news at around 11.30pm eastern time.

Bin Laden's capture comes eight years to the day that President George Bush declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq. As president, Bush declared he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive" – but it is now the unlikely figure of Barack Obama who has been able to announce the final triumph as US commander-in-chief.

This is a turning point in the global "war on terrorism" that has been waged since 9/11 - and the news will reverberate around the world.

The news comes as an unparalleled boost for US foreign policy, the key aim of which since 2001 has been the disarming and dismemberment of al-Qaida, and coincidentally probably ensures the re-election of Obama in 2012.

As a candidate during the 2008 election campaign, Obama repeatedly vowed: "We will kill Osama bin Laden." And so it has proved.

The Obama statement was scheduled originally for 10.30pm, but the need to inform US congressional leaders caused the delay.

In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, one western diplomat described the news as a "game changer" – not just for al-Qaida, but also for US foreign policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a region embroiled in turmoil and violence since 2001.

"I'm overjoyed," said the diplomat. "But what this exactly means is really not clear."

Some analysts fear bin Laden's death could spark a precipitous US withdrawal from the region, with the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan still unresolved.

It will likely also reconfigure relations with Pakistan, where the CIA is engaged in a controversial assassination campaign against senior al-Qaida figures using Predator and Reaper drones.

"He's dead," said an official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, declining to give details other than to say that it was "highly sensitive intelligence operation".

The official said he was "not at liberty" to give further details on the killing, including on reports that Pakistani intelligence was involved in the operation. "We'll release more information later this morning," he said.

Abbottabad is about two hours' drive north of Islamabad, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is not part of the tribal belt, where the CIA drone strike campaign has been concentrated, but is home to the Pakistan military's main training institution, the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul.

The fact that bin Laden was killed outside the tribal belt in Pakistan will raise questions about how the six-foot four-inch fugitive, one of the most famous faces in the world, managed to escape justice for so long.

Pakistan's intelligence services have largely co-operated with the US in capturing al-Qaida fugitives - some of the most notorious figures seized since 2001 were caught in Pakistan's cities such as the architect of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

In recent months US military and intelligence officials have publicly complained that the ISI has been assisting the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked militant network that straddles the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Osama bin Laden: A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government

Yes, we were hacked. Starting just moments before President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, our website was hit with what the hosting company described as a massive distributed denial of service attack, no doubt to prevent the public from accessing the documentation showing Bin Laden actually died in December of 2001 of natural causes.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

"Those who own the country ought to govern it." -- John Jay, American statesman and first Chief Justice of US Supreme Court, 1745--1829

Osama bin Laden: A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government

ON MAY 1, 2011, JUST MOMENTS BEFORE PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCED THAT THE US HAD KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN, THE WHATREALLYHAPPENED WEBITE CAME UNDER MASSIVE DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK. THIS PAGE, WHICH DOCUMENTS THAT OSAMA BIN LADEN ACTUALLY DIED IN DECEMBER OF 2001, APPEARS TO BE WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DIDN'T WANT AVAILABLE WHILE THE NEW PROPAGANDA WAS "CATAPULTED FORWARD". IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS IS THE OPENING GAMBIT IN A PLAN TO STAGE A "REVENGE" ATTACK FROM "AL QAEDA" ON THE UNITED STATES, WITH WHICH TO JUSTIFY TOTAL WAR ON THE MIDDLE EAST.

Bin Laden's voice was detected regularly until [14 December 2001] by intelligence operatives monitoring radio transmissions in Tora Bora, according to the Pentagon [details]. Since then, nothing has been heard from the al-Qa'eda leader and President Bush has hinted in private that bin Laden's silence could mean he has been killed. [Telegraph, 12/28/2001]

Osama bin Laden: A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government

Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December [2001] and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication. With an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive. He always liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with. Would he remain silent for nine months and not trumpet his own survival? [New York Times. July 11, 2002] FOX News Report: Bin Laden Already Dead Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. [Fox News. December 26, 2001]

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Bin Laden has often been reported to be in poor health. Some accounts claim that he is suffering from Hepatitis C, and can expect to live for only two more years. According to Le Figaro, last year [2000] he ordered a mobile dialysis machine to be delivered to his base at Kandahar in Afghanistan. [Guardian]   Peter Bergen: Bin Laden has aged 'enormously' This is a man who was clearly not well. I mean, as you see from these pictures here, he's really, by December [2001] he's looking pretty terrible. Bin Laden December 27, 2001 video Healthy bin Laden But by December, of course, that tape that was aired then, he's barely moving the left side of his body. So he's clearly got diabetes. He has low blood pressure. He's got a wound in his foot. He's apparently got dialysis ... for kidney problems. [CNN] The [December 27, 2001 video] was dismissed by the Bush administration ... as sick propaganda possibly designed to mask the fact the al-Qa'eda leader was already dead. "He could have made the video and then ordered that it be released in the event of his death," said one White House aide. [Telegraph] Pakistan's Musharraf: Bin Laden probably dead Pakistan's president says he thinks Osama bin Laden is most likely dead because the suspected terrorist has been unable to get treatment for his kidney disease. [A Bush administration official] said U.S. intelligence is that bin Laden needs dialysis every three days and "it is fairly obvious that that could be an issue when you are running from place to place, and facing the idea of needing to generate electricity in a mountain hideout." [CNN] Renal dialysis -- talking about hemodialysis -- is something that really is reserved for patients in end-stage renal failure. That means their kidneys have just completely shut down. The most common cause of something like that would be something like diabetes and hypertension. Once that's happened, if you're separated from your dialysis machine -- and incidentally, dialysis machines require electricity, they're going to require clean water, they're going to require a sterile setting -- infection is a huge risk with that. If you don't have all those things and a functioning dialysis machine, it's unlikely that you'd survive beyond several days or a week at the most. [CNN] Karzai: bin Laden 'probably' dead Osama bin Laden is "probably" dead, but former Taliban leader Mullah Omar is alive, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said. [CNN] FBI: Bin Laden 'probably' dead The US Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-terrorism chief, Dale Watson, says he thinks Osama bin Laden is "probably" dead. [BBC] Magazine runs what it calls bin Laden's will The editor-in-chief of a London-based Arab news magazine said a purported will it published Saturday was written late last year [2001] by Osama bin Laden, and shows "he's dying or he's going to die soon." [CNN] Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. "The Coalition troops are engaged in a mad search operation but they would never be able to fulfill their cherished goal of getting Usama alive or dead," the source said. [FOX News] Translation of Funeral Article in Egyptian Paper: al-Wafd, Wednesday, December 26, 2001 Vol 15 No 4633 News of Bin Laden's Death and Funeral 10 days ago A prominent official in the Afghan Taleban movement announced yesterday the death of Osama bin Laden, the chief of al-Qa'da organization, stating that binLaden suffered serious complications in the lungs and died a natural and quiet death. [Welfare State] Osama bin who? Israel does not view bin Laden as a threat. [Janes] Israeli intelligence: Bin Laden is dead, heir has been chosen Israeli sources said Israel and the United States assess that Bin Laden probably died in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan in December. They said the emergence of new messages by Bin Laden are probably fabrications, Middle East Newsline reported. [World Tribune] [See also The Fake bin Laden Audio Tape] [See also Benazir Bhutto says Osama is dead.] When you hear a threat which is "probably" made by bin Laden, just remember that he's "probably" dead.Also think about who benefits from your believing he's alive. "Osama bin Laden" Fitter than ever in 2004

Osama bin Laden dead

Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, mastermind of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the world’s most wanted man for almost a decade is dead, President Barack Obama is poised to announce.

Osama bin Laden has been killed Photo: EPA

By Toby Harden in Washington 4:10AM BST 02 May 2011

Mr Obama was due to address the United States and people across the globe shortly after 11pm local time on Sunday night from the East Room of the White House.

He was expected to say that the Saudi-born Islamist had been killed by an American "asset" and that his body was in US custody in Afghanistan.

Military sources said that bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside Islamabad along with other family members after “actionable intelligence” about his whereabouts was received.

Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone.

A Pakistani intelligence official confirmed that the al-Qaeda leader had been killed in Pakistan.