Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad
| Osama bin Laden's hideout compound | |
|---|---|
 CIA aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound | |
  Map of Pakistan showing the location of the compound | |
| Alternative names | Waziristan Haveli |
| General information | |
| Type | Compound |
| Location | Bilal Town, Abbottābad, Abbottābad District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Coordinates | 34°10′09.43″N 73°14′32.84″E / 34.1692861°N 73.2424556°E |
| Cost | US$1 million (Rs. 85 million) |
| Owner | Unknown |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
Osama bin Laden's hideout compound, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli[1] ('Haveli' means "mansion" and Waziristan is a region in Pakistan), is the safe house in which Osama bin Laden was hiding at the time he was killed. The structure is located about half a mile (0.8 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy in Bilal Town, near Abbottābad, Pakistan. The suburban area of the Bilal Town is reported as an area housing retired military officers.[2]
Compound
Built in 2005, the million-dollar, three-story mansion[3] is located on a dirt road[4] 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northeast of the city center of Abbottābad. On a plot of land much larger than those of nearby houses, it was surrounded by 12-to-18-foot (3.7 to 5.5 m)[5] concrete walls topped with barbed wire.[6] There were no phones or internet wires running into the mansion. However, security cameras were found installed, and aerial photographs show several satellite dishes.[2] There were two security gates and the third-floor balcony had a 7-foot (2.1 m) privacy wall (which could hide the 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) bin Laden), with very few windows. The mansion was known as Waziristan Haveli by the local residents, and owned by a transporter from Waziristan; bin Laden previously spent time in the Waziristan area of Afghanistan.[7] Gulf News reported that the compound where bin Laden was killed had previously been used as a safe house by Inter-Services Intelligence, but was no longer being used for this purpose.[8] ISI admitted that this compound was raided in 2003 while under construction as Abu Faraj al-Libbi was suspected to be living there.[9]
Locals have disclosed details about their interactions with the residents of the compound. A woman distributing the polio vaccine arrived at the compound, commenting about the extravagant SUVs. The men received the vaccine and instructed her to leave. A woman in her 70s said that in rainy weather one of the men from the hideaway gave her a ride to the market. Her grandchildren had played with the children living in the house, and received rabbits as presents. One farmer said, "People were skeptical in this neighborhood about this place and these guys. They used to gossip, say they were smugglers or drug dealers. People would complain that even with such a big house they didn't invite the poor or distribute charity". Present at some neighborhood funerals, two men from the compound were "tall, fair skinned and bearded" and self-identified as cousins from elsewhere in the region.[10]
Research by American intelligence
American intelligence officials discovered bin Laden's whereabouts by tracking one of his couriers. Information was collected from Guantánamo Bay detainees, who gave intelligence officers the courier's pseudonym and said that he was a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[11] In 2007, U.S. officials discovered the courier's real name and, in 2009, that he lived in Abbottābad, Pakistan.[12] Using satellite photos and intelligence reports, the CIA surmised the inhabitants of the mansion. In September, the CIA concluded that the compound was "custom built to hide someone of significance" and that it was very likely that Osama bin Laden was residing there.[6][5] Officials surmised that he was living there with his youngest wife.[5] The raiding party entered the Haveli by blasting their way into the bedroom (through a hole created by the blast) where Osama bin Laden was found and he was shot in the head and chest. BBC news reports also indicate that three men, his courier, younger brother and a son with him in the room were also killed, but not his wife; his wife was reported to be injured in the shooting.[2]
The extraordinary security measures, both physical and operational, indicated a well planned hideout. Apart from sectioning of the mansion with high raised walls of varying heights, the layout included a wall on the terrace of the third floor which point to a custom-built structure.[13]
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, using drone-derived intelligence, developed "what amounted to a detailed 'map' of the bin Laden compound and its occupants and their patterns of living and working." This map was used to create a model of the compound for practice runs.[14]
CIA director Leon Panetta issued a memo that also credited the National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for contributing to the intelligence-gathering that made the raid possible. The National Journal reported that "NSA figured out, somehow, that there was no telephone or Internet service in the compound"; however, a satellite dish is plainly visible on a building on the complex. Its residents burned their trash, unlike their neighbors, who simply set it out for collection.[15]
After the event
The hideout, now under the security control of the Pakistan Police, indicate highly fortified compound walls made of concrete blocks with three gates, zoning the building from the large courtyard and a garden in front of a collapsed wall.[16] The remains of the Navy SEALs helicopter that crashed during the US operation was later removed from the site by a tractor.[17]
Police have allowed reporters and locals to approach the wall of the hideaway. The doors are lodged in place, but police did not exert themselves to open them.[10]
Hideout architecture
In the urban setting, the architecture of the bin Laden hideout has been called by an architect as "surprisingly permanent- and surprisingly Urban" and "sure to join Saddam Hussein’s last known address among the most notorious examples of hideout architecture in recent memory".[18]
References
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- ^ "What was life like in the Bin Laden compound?". BBC. 3 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "Pakistan defends Bin Laden role". BBC Mobile South Asia. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ Senguptam, Kim (3 May 2011). "Trail that led from Guantanamo to a $1 m compound in Pakistan". The Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Myers, Steven Lee (3 May 2011). "Obama Calls World Safer After Death of Bin Laden". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Dedman, Bill. "How the U.S. tracked couriers to elaborate bin Laden compound". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011. Cite error: The named reference "Dedman" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Mazzetti, Mark. "Detective Work on Courier Led to Breakthrough on Bin Laden". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "MazzettiCooper" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ "Was Osama killed by US troops or his own guard?, Ismail Khan, Dawn 3 May 2011". Dawn.com. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ "Bin Laden compound in Pakistan was once an ISI safe house". Gulf News. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ "Bin Laden: Pakistan intelligence agency admits failures". BBC. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ a b Toosi, Nahal. "Bin Laden's neighbors noticed unusual things". MSNBC. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Isikoff, Michael (2 May 2011). "Bin Laden's death rekindles 'enhanced' interrogation debate". msnbc.com. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ NY Times Abbottābad graphic, The New York Times[dead link]
- ^ "Osama bin Laden's hideaway was more fortress than home". The Tlegraph. Retrieved 3 may 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "National Counterterrorism Center: How A Little-Known Spy Agency Helped Track Down Osama Bin Laden".
- ^ Zengerle, Patricia. "Bin Laden was found at luxurious Pakistan compound". Reuters. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Bin Laden house handed over to police". Herald Sun. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ "How a 40-minute raid ended ten years of defiance, as American troops' head cameras relayed every detail to the President". Daily Mail. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Architecture on the lam: The compound where Osama bin Laden was killed". Los Angeles Times. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 may 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|archivedate=(help)
