US President Barack Obama has announced that Osama Bin Laden, whose al-Qaeda organization carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, has been killed by US forces. The US force assaulted Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital Islamabad, and killed Bin Laden in a firefight. Three other men and one woman were reported killed in the attack, which took place by helicopter in the early hours of Sunday morning, Pakistan time. One of the dead is believed to be a son of Bin Laden. No US casualties are reported. US intelligence discovered Bin Laden's whereabouts last August.
President Obama said that Bin Laden's body had been identified, and was in the possession of the US forces, and declared that "justice has been done."
The US has put its embassies around the world on alert.
View President Obama's announcement of the operation to kill Bin Laden.
The killing of Bin Laden represents a substantial achievement for Obama and his national security team, and will give him a political boost in his efforts to be reelected for a second term as president of the US in 2012. It is also a blow to al-Qaeda, which has carried out bloody terrorist attacks in many Western and Arab countries, which prompted a worldwide campaign against it.
In response to the news, thousands of people gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, shouting in triumph and joy and waving US flags.
Bin Laden disappeared in a mountainous area in eastern Pakistan at the end of 2001, as US and coalition forces invaded Afghanistan in response to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, in which hijacked passenger aircraft were crashed onto targets in New York and Washington. President Obama said that intelligence provided clues as to Bin Laden's whereabouts in August last year. A US official said that Obama gave the order to carry out the operation to attack Bin Laden's compound on Friday.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 2, 2011
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