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Today in history: Osama bin Laden killed by US forces
Osama Bin Laden. PHOTO/FILE/AFP
What you need to know:
- During the raid, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, five people, including bin Laden and one of his adult sons, were killed by US gunfire.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, was killed by US forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan.
The 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been the target of a nearly decade-long international manhunt.
The raid began on May 1, 2011 in the US, when 23 US Navy SEALs in two Black Hawk helicopters descended on the compound in Abbottabad, a tourist and military centre North of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. One of the helicopters crash-landed into the compound but no one aboard was hurt.
During the raid, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, five people, including bin Laden and one of his adult sons, were killed by US gunfire.
Afterward, bin Laden’s body was flown by helicopter to Afghanistan for official identification, then buried at an undisclosed location in the Arabian Sea less than 24 hours after his death, in accordance with Islamic practice.
via history.com
