US President Obama announces Bin Laden killed by US forces

The ten-year search that ended in the death of Osama Bin Laden was greeted by joy by thousands of Americans who gathered at Ground Zero in New York.

Osama Bin Laden was killed by special forces in Abbottabad.  Abbottabad is home to a large Pakistani military base, a military academy of the Pakistani army, and a major hospital and other facilities that would could have served as support for Osama bin Laden.

This was announced by President Obama in the White House.  The founder of Al Qaeda, responsible for the Twin towers attack was killed after a fire fight in Abbottabad north of Islamabad in Pakistan.  Thousands gathered at Ground Zero in New York to celebrate the news

In  a late night appearance at the White House, Obama declared that “justice has been done” as he disclosed that American military and CIA had finally cornered Bin Laden.

“For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol,” the president said in a statement carried on television around the world. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda. But his death does not mark the end of our effort.” He added, “We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”

“This is important news for us, and for the world,” said Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93, the airliner that crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside after passengers fought with hijackers. “It cannot ease our pain, or bring back our loved ones. It does bring a measure of comfort that the mastermind of the September 11 tragedy and the face of global terror can no longer spread his evil.”

Bon Laden escaped from American troops in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in 2001 and, although he was widely believed to be in Pakistan, American intelligence had largely lost his trail for most of the years that followed. They picked up a fresh trail last August. Obama said in his national address Sunday night that it had taken months to firm up that information and that last week he had determined it was clear enough to authorize a secret operation in Pakistan.

The forces attacked the compound in what Obama called a “targeted operation” that Bin Laden dead. “No Americans were harmed,” Obama said. “They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a fire fight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

The fact that Bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan was bound once again to raise questions about just how much Pakistan is willing to work with the United States, since Pakistani officials denied for years that Bin Laden was in their country. It also raised the question of whether Bin Laden’s whereabouts were known to Pakistan’s spy agency.

It was surprising that Bin Laden was killed not in Pakistan’s remote tribal area, where Bin Laden was rumoured to have taken refuge, but rather in in the city of Abbottadad, about an hour’s drive drive north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Abbottabad  is a city is situated in the Orash Valley at an altitude of 1,260 m. The city is well-known throughout Pakistan for its pleasant weather, high standard educational institutions and military establishments. It remains a major hub for tourism in the summer.