Navy SEALs Kill Osama Bin Laden
On the morning of the 2nd Of May 2011, the world awoke to the stunning news that Osama Bin Laden was dead, killed by a US Navy SEAL raid on his hideout in Pakistan the previous night. The SEALs, thought be from the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), otherwise known as 'SEAL Team Six', swooped on a heavily-protected compound at Abbottabad, Pakistan. Several people were killed in the raid. Bin Laden himself engaged in a was reportedly shot multiple times.
Early reports indicate that black hawk helicopters, flown by Nightstalkers from the 160th SOAR, were used to insert the SEALs. One of the helicopters was reported to have been damaged by gunfire or suffered mechanical failure and was destroyed on the ground by US forces. Photos of the wreckage of said helicopter revealed unusual modifications which has prompted speculation that it was a 'Stealth' helicopter - most likely a modified MH-60 helo fitted with noise-dampening gear and other design features designed to reduce its radar, infrared and sonic signatures.
It has been reported that soon after the SEALs entered the compound they came under fire from a guard who lived on the grounds. He was quickly dispatched by return fire by the SEALs who proceeded to go room to room through the buildings. The SEALs came across at least one false door during the operation. SEAL Team Six had brought at least one specially trained dog with them to hunt for explosives. When the SEALs came apon Bin Laden he was unarmed, but was in reach of an AK47 and a pistol and was shot several times in the face.
No American forces were harmed during the operation which was codenamed 'Operation Geronimo'.
Osama's hiding place was found through painstaking intelligence gathering by the CIA. When intel pointed to the compound in Abbottabad, a CIA team setup a covert surveillance operation based out of a house rented in the neighbourhood.
Details of the operation are still coming in but here are some of the latest reports:
- Getting Osama bin Laden: How the mission went down
(politico report)
- The Secret Team That Killed bin Laden
(http://nationaljournal.com report)
- Inside the raid that killed bin Laden
(Fox News)
- How Osama bin Laden died: Details of the commando raid that killed the world's most wanted man
(LA Times report)
- Osama Bin Laden Killed By Navy SEALs in Firefight
(ABC News report)
- US forces kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan
(BBC News report)
- U.S. forces kill elusive terror figure Osama bin Laden in Pakistan
(CNN report)
- Intel hunt led to shootout at bin Laden fortress
(CBS News report)
- Obama Confirms Osama Bin Laden's Death
(Daily Beast report)
