Washington, DC, USA. Osama bin Laden, the leader of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the the most-wanted person in the world, died in an attack by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan near the capital Islamabad.

US President Barack Obama announced the news late Sunday night during a televised speech from the East Room of the White House at around 23:35 EDT (03:35 UTC).


"I can report to the American people and to the world, that the US has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden," said Obama late Sunday night. Obama said he had been told of a lead to bin Laden's location, and approved the operation on Friday, April 29th that led to the killing of bin Laden, 54, on Sunday in a US ground operation.



Osama bin Laden
(10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011)Officials say the operation took about 45 minutes. Amon those killed in the raid were bin Laden's brother, son, killed, and a woman used as a human shield. No U.S. forces or American civilians were reported killed in the attack. The assault team destroyed an American helicopter to protect intelligence information after it experienced mechanical failure.

Bin Laden's body was retrieved and his identity verified using DNA testing. Following identification and documentation of the remains, his body was buried at sea, U.S. officials say, "in accordance with Islamic law and traditions", eliminating the possibility of a burial shrine.

In his announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama said "I can report to the American people and to the world, that the US has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden." Obama confirmed a lead developed on the location of bin Laden last August. He approved an operation last week that involved a "small team of Americans".

Obama stressed that bin Laden was a "mass murderer of Muslims" and not a Muslim leader. The president also said that Pakistani intelligence helped with the bin Laden capture.

The announcement came nearly 10 years after the Sept. 11 Al Qaeda network attacks on the United States, which signaled the start of a multi-component war on terror that has been the focus of U.S. foreign policy ever since.

US intelligence and diplomatic sources report that US military, intelligence, and diplomatic installations are under a heightened state of alert in case bin Laden loyalists advance the initiation of planned terrorist operations.

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