Bin Laden The Top Story

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Bin Laden killed at compound in Pakistan

Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces early Monday in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a military and tourist town of about 100,000 people. The compound was located in a neighborhood populated by military families one mile from the elite Pakistan Military Academy.

The compound

The three-story house where officials say bin Laden and his relatives were living was built in 2005 and, at eight times the size of the surrounding houses, was worth about $1 million. It had no Internet or telephone connection and was surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire. Residents burned their trash in an outdoor area of the compound instead of placing it outside to be picked up.

The raid

At about 1 a.m. Monday, two helicopters coming from Afghanistan were seen flying above the neighborhood. One lowered American commandoes to the ground, and the other crashed into one of the compound's walls after a mechanical failure. According to a senior U.S. intelligence official, bin Laden died "almost certainly" from a bullet to the head near the end of a 40-minute firefight inside the house. Three other adult males, including one of bin Laden's sons, and a woman that U.S. officials say was used as a human shield were also killed, but none of the Americans were injured. The crew destroyed the downed helicopter with explosives, so as not to leave the technology behind, and U.S. forces flew back to Afghanistan with bin Laden's body.

The body's route

After he was shot and killed at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Osama bin Laden's body was flown by helicopter to Afghanistan for identification, then airlifted to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in an undisclosed location in the Arabian Sea.

The team

The team that killed Osama bin Laden is from the U.S. Navy's Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), a tier one counterterrorism and Special Mission Unit, or "black unit," that is headquartered in Virginia Beach. The team is a component of the Joint Special Operations Command.

Burial at sea

Bin Laden's preparation for burial included some traditional Muslim practices, according to an unnamed senior Defense Department official. Muslim scholars disagree about whether the burial was, in fact, done according to Islam's mandates. What we know about the 50-minute rites:

1. Washing
Bin Laden's body was washed while on the aircraft carrier. Islam dictates that male relatives or a surviving spouse wash the body with soap and water in very specific ways, three, five or seven times. The official did not give details as to who washed the body or how it was done.

2. Covering
The body was wrapped in a white sheet. Islam requires three clean, preferably white sheets, tied around the body with rope. The body is to be placed in a specific position with the hands on the chest.

3. Prayer
An officer read "religious remarks" which were translated into Arabic. A Muslim service is very specific, with certain prayer recitations, and is carefully choreographed down to where various people stand in relation to the imam and the positioning of mourner's hands.

4. Burial
Bin Laden's body was placed in a weighted bag, laid on a flat board and tipped so that it slid into the sea. Muslims are traditionally buried in a deep hole without a coffin, on their right sides, facing Mecca. Burial for someone who dies at sea requires weighting the body before putting it into the water.

5. Timing
Bin Laden's body went into the sea Monday at 2 a.m. EST (11 a.m. in Pakistan), about 10 hours after his death. Islam requires that a body be buried within 24 hours, ideally before the sun begins to set.

How do they know it was bin Laden?

A senior U.S. intelligence official said the body was identified in these ways:

Visual: U.S. Special Operations Forces and one of his wives who survived the raid identified bin Laden.

Comparative: Special Forces compared the body to photographs. The official cited "facial recognition" as well, but it was unclear whether that was software or some other method.

DNA: Tests Monday confirmed with "99.9 percent certainty" that the body was bin Laden's by matching samples with those of family members, according to White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan.

SOURCES: ISI PAKISTAN