How Bin Laden Was Found and Killed

LAURA MECKLER ADAM ENTOUS in Washington and ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad, Pakistan

After years of work and one of the biggest manhunts in history, Osama bin Laden, the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed Sunday in a targeted assault in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

For many years, the Central Intelligence Agency had been gathering leads on people in Mr. bin Laden's inner circle, but the key to finally locating the elusive al Qaeda leader turned out to be one particular courier, officials said.

About two years ago, U.S. officials identified areas where this courier and his brother operated, and the pair eventually led the U.S. to the compound.

WSJ's Alan Murray and John Bussey speak with Michael Scheuer, the CIA's former director of its Osama bin Laden unit. Scheuer suggests Osama bin Laden kept himself below the radar by making limited movement around Pakistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama announces U.S. forces in Pakistan killed al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden in a firefight in the city of Abbottabad. Obama said bin Laden's death was justice for the Sept 11, 2001 terror attack. Video courtesy whitehouse.gov.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed 40 miles outside Pakistan's capital - a telling location that could impact regional security in the days ahead. WSJ's Jake Lee and Carlos Tejada are joined by John Bussey in New York to discuss.

The U.S. teams located the residence in August. "We were shocked by what we saw," one official said, calling it "an extraordinarily unique compound." That gave them the confidence it might be harboring Mr. bin Laden.

President Barack Obama said he was first briefed on a possible lead on Mr. bin Laden's whereabouts in August. "It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground," Mr. Obama said in his address to the nation Sunday night.

Mr. Obama said that he met repeatedly with his national security team "as we developed more information about the possibility that we have located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside Pakistan."

Last week, there was enough intelligence to take action. On Friday, the president gave the order to proceed with what he described as a targeted operation against a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 40 miles outside the capital city of Islamabad.

The raid was conducted by a small helicopter-borne strike team, a senior U.S. administration official said. The team was on the compound for under 40 minutes, the official said.

The strike team had studied the facility and knew roughly how many people, including men, women and children, would be inside the compound because of surveillance that had been conducted in advance.

The compound was roughly eight times as large as other homes in the neighborhood. Security measures at the compound included more than 12-foot-high barbed-wire fences and access restricted by two security gates.

The property was valued at about $1 million but had no telephone or Internet service. It was built in 2005 in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. U.S. officials believe it was constructed to house Mr. bin Laden, but they don't know when he moved in.

For most of their time on the ground, the Special Operations team was engaged in a firefight as they worked their way through each of the structures.

Mr. bin Laden and his family were found by U.S. forces on the second and third floors of the large main structure in the compound. Because of their location, those areas were cleared last, Defense officials said.

In addition to Mr. bin Laden, three adult men were killed in the raid, including the two couriers and one of Mr. bin Laden's adult sons.

There were several women and children at the compound. One woman was killed when she was used as a "shield" by one of the adult men. Two other women were injured.

A senior Defense official said Mr. bin Laden was killed by "U.S. bullets," ruling out that he was killed by his own guards to prevent him from being captured alive. At least one bullet fired by the U.S. strike team hit Mr. bin Laden in the head.

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Omar Khan, a local resident in the area of the attack, said American and Pakistani commandos landed in the area at 1:10 a.m., local time, and raided a house.

"The entire area was rocked with a massive explosion," he said. "A massive exchange of firing took place which continued for more than half an hour." Security forces have cordoned off the area.

During the raid, one of the U.S. helicopters had to be destroyed because it was damaged during a hard landing in the compound and couldn't be flown out. The official said the situation was difficult, but the skill of the pilot prevented any injuries—and allowed the mission to continue.

The U.S. team did not encounter any Pakistani security forces during the raid.

An intelligence official said Mr. bin Laden was "more or less hiding in plain sight" and was living, "relatively speaking, high on the hog" in the compound in an upscale area of Pakistan.

"We have no indications that the Pakistanis were aware that Osama bin Laden was at the compound," a senior intelligence official said.

A contingency plan had been made to capture Mr. bin Laden, but he "did resist the assault force" and was killed in the firefight that ensued as the strike team entered the compound, a senior administration official said.

Mr. bin Laden's body was identified by the strike force, officials said. Family members in the compound also positively identified his body.

Osama bin Laden's Compound

Diagram from the CIA

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Anjum Naveed/Associated Press

U.S. forces found Osama bin Laden at this compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 40 miles outside Islamabad.

At 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, the president first learned that Mr. bin Laden's body was tentatively identified. At 7:01 p.m., Mr. Obama was told there was a "high probability" the body was Mr. bin Laden's. Monday morning, an initial DNA analysis showed a "virtually 100%" match of the body against DNA of several bin Laden family members, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

Mr. Obama called his predecessors in office, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, before speaking to the nation, a senior administration official said.

No Americans were hurt in the raid, Mr. Obama said, and the team took pains to avoid civilian casualties.

Mr. bin Laden's body was buried at sea, in order to be in accordance with Islamic tradition that burial take place within 24 hours, according to a person familiar with the situation. The Saudis declined a U.S. offer to take the body, this person said.

"There was no available alternative in terms of a country that was willing to accept the body and we took pains to ensure that we were compliant with Muslim tradition and law," a senior defense official said.