VIDEOS: Joyous Americans Gather to Mark Bin Laden Death
PHOTOS: AP
President Bush: “A momentous achievement”
Bush called the operation a “momentous achievement” that “marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
“I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude,” the former president said in a statement. “The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.”
Obama: "At My Direction" U.S. Carried Out Operation Against Bin Laden
OBAMA STATEMENT CAME IN MIDDLE OF TRUMP'S 'CELEBRITY APPRENTICE'...
PHOTOS: Inside and Outside the Compound Where Osama Bin Laden Was Killed
Muslim Reaction:
Prediction: The extermination of bin-Laden and his accomplices will be taken as a sign by Muslims that Allah is NOT willing to grant them victory at this time.
American Reaction:
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS:
AP: Corpse Dumped in Ocean after taking DNA for Testing
U.S. officials said the CIA tracked bin Laden to his location, then elite troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, flew to the hideout in four helicopters. Bin Laden was shot in the head in an ensuing firefight, these officials said, adding that he and his guards had resisted his attackers. U.S. personnel identified him by facial recognition, the official said, declining to say whether DNA analysis had also been used.
The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden's remains. A U.S. official later said bin Laden had been buried at sea and the remains were handled in accordance with Islamic practice, which calls for speedy burial.
The official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters, said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. The official did not say where the body was buried.
AP: Located 100yds from Pakistani Military academy
But within hours of the announcement, Pakistani officials and a witness said bin Laden's guards had opened fire from the roof of the building, and one of the choppers crashed. The sound of at least two explosions rocked the small northwestern town of Abbottabad, where the al-Qaida chief made his last stand.
Flames were visible after the attack on the building, which was located about 100 yards from the gates of a Pakistani military academy — certain to raise questions about al-Qaida's ability to build a custom-made hideout in such close proximity.
REUTERS: Bin Laden was found at luxurious Pakistan compound in Suburb full of retired Pak Military
The home is in Abbotabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.
The building, about eight times the size of other nearby houses, sat on a large plot of land that was relatively secluded when it was built in 2005. When it was constructed, it was on the outskirts of Abbotabad's center, at the end of a dirt road, but some other homes have been built nearby in the six years since it went up, officials said.
Intense security measures included 12- to 18-foot outer walls topped with barbed wire and internal walls that sectioned off different parts of the compound, officials said. Two security gates restricted access, and residents burned their trash, rather than leaving it for collection as did their neighbors, officials said.
Few windows of the three-story home faced the outside of the compound, and a terrace had a seven-foot (2.1 meter) privacy wall, officials said.
"It is also noteworthy that the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it," an administration official said. "The brothers had no explainable source of wealth
UK Guardian: Osama bin Laden found in $1M mansion outside Pakistani capital
The trail that led the CIA to Osama bin Laden began with his most trusted courier. It had taken the CIA years to discover first his name and then the home where he was hiding bin Laden. But it took only 40 minutes on Sunday for US special forces to kill both the courier and bin Laden.
Contrary to repeated speculation over the last decade that bin Laden was living in one of the remote tribal areas of Pakistan or even across the border in Afghanistan, the al-Qaida leader was found in an affluent suburb of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
Senior US administration officials, briefing journalists in a late-night teleconference, said that after 9/11 the CIA chased various leads about bin Laden's inner circle, in particular his couriers. One of these couriers came in for special attention, mentioned by detainees by his nom de guerre and said to be one of the few couriers bin Laden trusted.
But officials said they were initially unable to identify him but finally did four years ago. They did not disclose his name to reporters on Sunday night.
Two years ago, the CIA found the rough location where the courier and his brother lived in Pakistan, and on August last year they narrowed it down to a compound, in an affluent area about 35 miles north of Islamabad.
They realised immediately this was no normal residence. The walls were 12- to 18ft high, topped with barbed wire. Access to the compound was severely restricted. The main part of the residence was three storeys high but had few windows. It was valued at about $1m but had no phone or internet connection. It was a custom-built terrorist hideaway.
Adding to their suspicions were that the two brothers had no known source of income. The CIA learned too that there was a family living with them and that this family matched bin Laden's….
Bin Laden and three males were killed, including the courier and his brother, and bin Laden's son. Bin Laden resisted the US force and was killed in a firefight, an official said.
One woman was injured while, an official said, she was being used as a shield by one of the men, and two other women were also injured.
REPORT: Pakistani intelligence agents on site during raid; unclear who fired fatal shot...
WH OFFICIAL: Bin Laden 'did resist'; Was asked to surrender...
4 others killed, including son...
Woman used as 'shield'...
Obama spoke with Bush, Clinton before TV statement...
Detainees captured after 9-11 gave crucial information...