ABBOTTABAD: Thursday marked eight years since Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.
A long street, photographed on April 26, 2018, runs between the compound in which Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived until May 2,
The three-story house in a vast compound was located in the garrison town of Abbottabad, just 1,300 meters southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy. Bin Laden was reported to have lived in a section of the house for at least five years, having no Internet or phone connection, and evading capture by completely hiding away from the public.
Cows and other cattle graze on April 26, 2019, inside the compound where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived in Pakistan’s garrison city of Abbottabad for nearly half a decade before being killed in a US Navy Seals' raid on May 2, 2011. (AN photo)
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the US searched for bin Laden for nearly 10 years, finally finding him by tracking his courier Abu Ahmed Al-Kuwaiti to the compound. During a raid on May 2, 2011, 24 US Navy Seals arrived by helicopter, breached a wall using explosives, and entered the compound in search of the militant leaders.
On April 26, 2019, children play cricket on a cemented pitch in a compound where Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad for five years and was killed by US Navy Seals on May 02, 2011. (AN photo)
After the operation was completed and bin Laden was killed, Pakistan demolished the structure on February 26, 2012, erasing a symbol of humiliation for Pakistan’s military that said the country’s sovereignty had been violated by an assault that unleashed one of the most difficult periods in US-Pakistan ties.
Zain Muhammad [right] sits with Muhammad Aziz on April 26, 2019. Both live in the surroundings of the compound in which Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden hid for five years in Pakistan until he was killed in a US Navy Seals raid on May 2, 2011. (AN photo)
Residents had complained for months of problems due to security measures since the killing of bin Laden, with many saying it was better to remove the building and let people live their lives.
During the demolition, security forces cordoned off the compound and restricted nearby residents’ movements. Life in the rest of the military town continued as normal, with children playing cricket and flying kites, and couples strolling or shopping.
The remains of the Pakistani home of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the place where he was killed after the biggest manhunt in history, as pictured on April 26, 2019. The Pakistan government demolished the structure in February 2012. (AN photo)
Pakistan closed off NATO supply routes to troops in Afghanistan following the raid. A Pakistani doctor, Shakeel Afridi, who helped the United States verify bin Laden’s location in Abbottabad is in a military prison facing possible treason charges for working for the US Central Intelligence Agency.
