US News

Rockets to flatten bin Laden’s Pakistan compound

The house where Osama bin Laden was shot dead by US Navy Seals is to be flattened by rocket-propelled grenades, then bulldozed.

Military chiefs in Pakistan plan a spectacular blitz in front of TV cameras to prevent the walled complex becoming a sick shrine to the al Qaeda terror master.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said yesterday: “We will hit it like an enemy fort. But first we must erase everything related to bin Laden from our country.”

Pakistan has been stung by claims it turned a blind eye to the hideout in Abbottabad, 30 miles from capital Islamabad. Intelligence officers have completed a forensic trawl and Arabic translators are wading through 187,000 documents seized after Bin Laden’s death last May.

The demolition will take place next month. Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said US and European officials will be invited. He said: “It will be a big event.”