Editing Osama bin Laden (section)

== Death and aftermath ==
{{Main|Killing of Osama bin Laden}}
{{See also|Reactions to the killing of Osama bin Laden|Osama bin Laden death conspiracy theories}}
[[File:Operation Neptune Spear map of locations (2).svg|thumb|upright=1.8<!-- large enough to be readable on an average computer screen...per MOS:IMAGESYNTAX "Images containing important detail (for example, a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable." -->|Map showing the US operation from its bases in Afghanistan to Pakistan that killed Bin Laden, and the subsequent burial of his body at sea]]

Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on 2 May 2011,<ref>{{cite web |date=25 September 2012 |title=FBI – USAMA BIN LADEN |url=http://www.fbi.gov/a-z-index/wanted/wanted_terrorists/usama-bin-laden |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925024039/http://www.fbi.gov/a-z-index/wanted/wanted_terrorists/usama-bin-laden |archive-date=25 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Charlie |date=28 October 2015 |title=How 4 Federal Lawyers Paved the Way to Kill Osama bin Laden |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/us/politics/obama-legal-authorization-osama-bin-laden-raid.html |access-date=23 April 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108171752/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/us/politics/obama-legal-authorization-osama-bin-laden-raid.html |url-status=live }}</ref> shortly after 1:00 AM [[Pakistan Standard Time|local time]] (4:00 PM [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]] on 1 May 2011){{efn|Depending on the time zone, the date of his death may be different locally.}}<ref name="waposurveil">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/cia-spied-on-bin-laden-from-safe-house/2011/05/05/AFXbG31F_story.html |title=CIA spied on Bin Laden from safe house |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=5 May 2011 |last=Miller |first=Greg |access-date=6 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510144552/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/cia-spied-on-bin-laden-from-safe-house/2011/05/05/AFXbG31F_story.html |archive-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Helene |title=Obama Announces Killing of Osama bin Laden |date=1 May 2011 |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/bin-laden-dead-u-s-official-says/ |work=The New York Times |access-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502033900/http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/bin-laden-dead-u-s-official-says/ |archive-date=2 May 2011 }}</ref> by a U.S. military [[special operations]] unit.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 August 1998 |title=Fbi – Usama bin Laden |url=https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/usama-bin-laden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515104052/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/usama-bin-laden |archive-date=15 May 2011 |access-date=15 May 2011 |publisher=Fbi.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN.com – U.S. mulls $50 million Bin Laden bounty – Jan 24, 2005 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/24/binladen.reward/index.html |access-date=2023-06-18 |website=www.cnn.com |archive-date=18 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618000307/https://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/24/binladen.reward/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The operation, code-named [[Operation Neptune Spear]], was ordered by Barack Obama in April 2011 and carried out in a CIA operation by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs from the [[United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group]] (also known as DEVGRU or informally by its former name, SEAL Team Six) of the [[Joint Special Operations Command]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Finkel|first=Gal Perl |url=http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=14263 |title=Back to the ground?|work=[[Israel Hayom]] |date=8 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817075613/http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=14263 |archive-date=17 August 2016}}</ref> with support from CIA operatives on the ground.<ref name="Sherwell">{{cite news |title=Osama bin Laden killed: Behind the scenes of the deadly raid |last=Sherwell |first=Philip |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8500431/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-Behind-the-scenes-of-the-deadly-raid.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=7 May 2011 |access-date=9 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510063758/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8500431/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-Behind-the-scenes-of-the-deadly-raid.html |archive-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref><ref name="CIAled">{{cite news |last=Dilanian |first=Ken |url=https://latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-osama-bin-laden-cia-20110502,0,6466214.story |title=CIA led U.S. special forces mission against Osama bin Laden |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524113215/http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-osama-bin-laden-cia-20110502,0,6466214.story |archive-date=24 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Nate |date=28 April 2023 |title=Newly released White House photos capture the day Bin Laden was killed |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/28/obama-foia-bin-laden-raid/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912131642/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/28/obama-foia-bin-laden-raid/ |archive-date=12 September 2023 |access-date=28 July 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

{{Multiple images
| image1            = Obama and Biden await updates on bin Laden.jpg
| caption1          = Members of the [[Obama administration]] in the [[Situation Room]], tracking the mission that killed Bin Laden
| image2            = Osama Bin Laden marked deceased on FBI Ten Most Wanted List May 3 2011.jpg
| caption2          = The FBI's website, listing Bin Laden as deceased on the [[FBI Most Wanted List|Most Wanted List]] on 3 May 2011
}}

The raid on Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad was launched from Afghanistan.<ref name="aftermath">{{cite web |url=http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/04/the_bin_laden_aftermath_the_us_shouldnt_hold_pakistans_military_against_pakistans_c |title=The Bin Laden aftermath: The U.S. shouldn't hold Pakistan's military against Pakistan's civilians |last=Fair |first=C. Christine |date=4 May 2011 |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |access-date=10 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509174818/http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/04/the_bin_laden_aftermath_the_us_shouldnt_hold_pakistans_military_against_pakistans_c |archive-date=9 May 2011 }}</ref> After the raid, reports at the time stated that U.S. forces had taken Bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for positive identification, then [[Burial at sea|buried it at sea]], in accordance with Islamic law, within 24 hours of his death.<ref name="ref-5">{{cite news |title=Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda leader, dead – Barack Obama |date=1 May 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676 |work=BBC News |access-date=2 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502034501/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676 |archive-date=2 May 2011 }}</ref> Subsequent reporting has called this account into question—citing, for example, the absence of evidence that there was an imam on board the {{USS|Carl Vinson}}, where the burial was said to have taken place.<ref name="SMHLRB" /> On 15 June 2011, U.S. federal prosecutors officially dropped all criminal charges against Bin Laden.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bray |first=Chad |date=17 June 2011 |title=U.S. Formally Drops Charges Against Bin Laden |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304453304576391563524482274 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710010238/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304453304576391563524482274 |archive-date=10 July 2017 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>

Pakistani authorities later demolished the compound in February 2012<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/world/asia/pakistan-razing-house-where-bin-laden-lived.html |title=Pakistan Razing House Where Bin Laden Lived |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=25 February 2012 |work=The New York Times |access-date=25 February 2012 |archive-date=22 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222110434/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/world/asia/pakistan-razing-house-where-bin-laden-lived.html |url-status=live}}</ref> to prevent it from becoming a neo-Islamist shrine.<ref>{{cite news|title=Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound demolished|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17169101|work=BBC News|access-date=28 April 2012|date=26 February 2012|archive-date=22 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422141802/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17169101|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2013, Pakistan announced plans to build a [[Pakistani rupee|PKR]]&nbsp;265 million (US$30 million) amusement park in the area, including the property of the former hideout.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bin Laden hideout to become theme park|url=http://www.news24.com/Travel/International/Bin-Laden-hideout-to-become-theme-park-20130206|publisher=News 24|access-date=11 February 2013|date=6 February 2013|archive-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427235631/https://www.news24.com/Travel/International/Bin-Laden-hideout-to-become-theme-park-20130206|url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview in 2019, Pakistani prime minister [[Imran Khan]] claimed that Pakistani intelligence led the CIA to Osama bin Laden.<ref>{{Cite web|date=23 July 2019|title=Imran Khan claims Pakistani intelligence led CIA to Bin Laden|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190723-imran-khan-bin-laden-pakistani-usa-cia-intelligence|access-date=4 May 2021|website=France 24|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504090408/https://www.france24.com/en/20190723-imran-khan-bin-laden-pakistani-usa-cia-intelligence|url-status=live}}</ref>

It was widely reported by the press that Bin Laden was fatally wounded by [[Robert J. O'Neill]]; however, it has also been widely discredited by witnesses, who claim that Bin Laden was possibly already dead by the time O'Neill arrived, having been injured by an anonymous SEAL Team Six member referred to under the pseudonym "Red".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Warrick |first1=Joby |title=Ex-SEAL Robert O'Neill reveals himself as shooter who killed Osama bin Laden |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-seal-robert-oneill-reveals-himself-as-shooter-who-killed-osama-bin-laden/2014/11/06/2bf46f3e-65dc-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html |access-date=17 November 2021 |date=6 November 2014 |archive-date=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921024711/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-seal-robert-oneill-reveals-himself-as-shooter-who-killed-osama-bin-laden/2014/11/06/2bf46f3e-65dc-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Matthew |title=The Crimes of Seal Team Six |date=10 January 2017 |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/01/10/the-crimes-of-seal-team-6/ |publisher=The Intercept |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212151/https://theintercept.com/2017/01/10/the-crimes-of-seal-team-6/ |access-date=17 November 2021|archive-date=2 June 2021 }}</ref> According to Navy SEAL [[Matt Bissonnette (author)|Matt Bissonnette]], Bin Laden was struck by two suppressed shots to the side of the head from around ten feet away after leaning out of his bedroom doorway to survey Bissonnette and a point man. Once the Navy SEALs entered the bedroom, his body began convulsing and Bissonnette along with another SEAL responded by firing multiple shots into his chest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Owen |first=Mark |author-link=Matt Bissonnette (author) |title=[[No Easy Day]]: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden |date=4 September 2012 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-61130-2}}</ref>

On 29 March 2012, Pakistani newspaper [[Dawn (newspaper)|''Dawn'']] acquired a report produced by Pakistani security officials, based on interrogation of his three surviving wives, that detailed his movements while living underground in Pakistan.<ref name="NYTimes2012-03-30">{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=30 March 2012 |title=On the Run, Bin Laden Had 4 Children and 5 Houses, a Wife Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/asia/on-run-bin-laden-had-4-children-and-5-houses-a-wife-says.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405184117/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/asia/on-run-bin-laden-had-4-children-and-5-houses-a-wife-says.html?_r=1&ref=global-home&pagewanted=print |archive-date=5 April 2012 |access-date=30 March 2012 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Allegations of Pakistan support and protection of Bin Laden ===
{{Main|Alleged Pakistani support for Osama bin Laden}}

Bin Laden was killed within the fortified complex of buildings that were probably built for him,<ref>{{cite news |last=Westhead |first=Rick |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/984289 |title=Questions about Bin Laden embarrassing to Pakistan |work=Toronto Star |date=1 April 2011 |access-date=3 May 2011 |location=Toronto |archive-date=2 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202134937/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2011/05/03/questions_about_bin_laden_embarrassing_to_pakistan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and had reportedly been his home for at least five years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/06/osama-bin-laden-lived-two-rooms |title=Osama bin Laden lived in two rooms for five years, wife says |work=The Guardian |date=6 May 2011 |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930084223/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/06/osama-bin-laden-lived-two-rooms |archive-date=30 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Reuters |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-bin-laden-lived-in-pakistan-compound-for-at-least-5-years-1.359578 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506130336/http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-bin-laden-lived-in-pakistan-compound-for-at-least-5-years-1.359578 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 May 2011 |title=U.S.: Bin Laden lived in Pakistan compound for at least 5 years |work=Haaretz |date=3 May 2011 |access-date=7 January 2012 }}</ref> The compound was located less than {{convert|1|mi|km|0|order=flip}} from [[Pakistan Military Academy]] and less than {{convert|100|km|mi}} from Pakistan's capital.<ref name="Sherwell" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-may-06-la-fg-osama-builder-20110506-story.html |title=Mystery shrouds the quiet man who built Bin Laden's compound |work=Los Angeles Times |date=6 May 2011 |access-date=12 May 2011 |first=Alex |last=Rodriguez |archive-date=25 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725230819/http://articles.latimes.com/print/2011/may/06/world/la-fg-osama-builder-20110506 |url-status=live }}</ref> While the United States and Pakistan governments both claimed, and later maintained, that no Pakistani officials, including senior military leaders, knew Bin Laden's whereabouts or had prior knowledge of the U.S. strike,<ref>{{cite web |last=Ross |first=Brian |title=Osama bin Laden Killed: U.S. Intelligence Probes Possible Pakistani Support System |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed-us-probes-pakistan-support/story?id=13516775 |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=3 May 2011|access-date=3 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505010148/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed-us-probes-pakistan-support/story?id=13516775 |archive-date=5 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Laskar|first=Rezaul H |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/osama-raid-took-pakistan-army-by-surprise/20110726.htm |title=Osama raid took Pakistan Army by surprise |agency=Press Trust of India|date=26 July 2011 |work=Rediff.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924200148/http://www.rediff.com/news/report/osama-raid-took-pakistan-army-by-surprise/20110726.htm |archive-date=24 September 2011 }}</ref> [[Carlotta Gall]], writing in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' in 2014, reported that ISI Director General [[Ahmad Shuja Pasha]] knew of Bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gall|first=Carlotta |author-link=Carlotta Gall |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html |title=What Pakistan Knew About Bin Laden |date=19 March 2014 |access-date=20 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320022921/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html |archive-date=20 March 2014 }}</ref> In a 2015 ''[[London Review of Books]]'' article, investigative reporter [[Seymour M. Hersh]] asserted—citing U.S. sources—that Bin Laden had been a prisoner of the ISI at the Abbottabad compound since 2006; that Pasha knew of the U.S. mission in advance, and authorized the helicopters delivering the SEALs to enter Pakistani airspace; and that the CIA learned of Bin Laden's whereabouts from a former senior Pakistani intelligence of Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was paid an estimated $25&nbsp;million for the information.<ref name="SMHLRB">{{cite news |last=Hersh |first=Seymour M. |newspaper=London Review of Books |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n10/seymour-m-hersh/the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden |title=The Killing of Osama bin Laden |pages=3–12 |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=3 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510191921/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n10/seymour-m-hersh/the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden |archive-date=10 May 2015 }}</ref> Both stories were denied by U.S. and Pakistani officials.

Mosharraf Zia, a leading Pakistani columnist, stated, "It seems deeply improbable that Bin Laden could have been where he was killed without the knowledge of some parts of the Pakistani state."<ref>{{cite news |title=Levin questions Pakistan's role |last=Schultz |first=Marisa |work=The Detroit News |date=3 May 2011 |page=7A}}</ref> Pakistan's U.S. envoy, [[List of ambassadors of Pakistan to the United States|Ambassador]] [[Husain Haqqani]], promised a "full inquiry" into how Pakistani intelligence services could have failed to find Bin Laden in a fortified compound so close to Islamabad. "Obviously Bin Laden did have a support system", he said. "The issue is, was that support system within the government and the state of Pakistan, or within the society of Pakistan?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/death-bin-laden-live-report-013459906.html |title=Death of Bin Laden: Live report |publisher=Yahoo! |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118191002/http://ph.news.yahoo.com/death-bin-laden-live-report-013459906.html |archive-date=18 January 2012 }}</ref>

Others argued that Bin Laden lived in the compound with a local family, and never used the internet or a mobile phone, which would have made him much easier to locate.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/11/inside-osama-bin-laden-assassination-plot |title=Inside Osama bin Laden's Final Hours—and How the White House Chose Their Assassination Plot |last=Bowden|first=Mark |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=12 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218012602/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/11/inside-osama-bin-laden-assassination-plot |archive-date=18 February 2016 }}</ref> Pakistan's president [[Asif Ali Zardari]] denied that his country's security forces sheltered Bin Laden, and called any supposed support for Bin Laden by the Pakistani government baseless speculation.<ref name="yahar">{{cite news |first1=Nahal |last1=Toosi |author-link1=Nahal Toosi|first2=Zarar |last2=Khan |agency=Associated Press |url=http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/Pakistans-president-denies-apf-1756634910.html |title=Pakistan's president denies harboring Bin Laden |publisher=Yahoo Finance |date=3 May 2011 |access-date=6 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119231114/http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/Pakistans-president-denies-apf-1756634910.html |archive-date=19 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/zardari-defends-pakistan-over-bin-laden-intel-2011-05-03-1.388294 |title=Zardari defends Pakistan over intel |publisher=Emirates 24/7 |date=3 May 2011 |access-date=3 May 2011 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607161800/https://www.emirates247.com/news/world/zardari-defends-pakistan-over-intel-2011-05-03-1.388294 |url-status=live }}</ref> Government officials said that the country's limited resources had been committed to its war against the [[Pakistan Taliban]], and other insurgents who posed an active threat to it, rather than to finding or sheltering Bin Laden.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Karon|first1=Tony |last2=Waraich|first2=Omar |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1948207,00.html |title=Under U.S. Pressure, Pakistan Balks at Helping on Afghan Taliban |date=17 December 2009 |magazine=Time |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101093302/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1948207,00.html |archive-date=1 January 2016 }}</ref> Coll states that as of 2019 there is no direct evidence showing Pakistani knowledge of Bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad. Documents captured from the Abbottabad compound generally show that Bin Laden was wary of contact with Pakistani intelligence and police, especially in light of Pakistan's role in the arrest of [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Steve Coll|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan|publisher=[[Penguin Group]]|year=2019|isbn=978-0-14-313250-9|pages=547–554}}</ref>