WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, President Obama confirmed late Sunday, after an operation in which the terrorist was tracked to a compound in Pakistan.
Speaking from the White House, the commander-in-chief said, “I can report to the American people and to the world, that the US has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.”
Giving details of last week’s operation, calling it a “historic day,” he continued, “Shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority.”
READ OBAMA’S FULL STATEMENT ON BIN LADEN’S DEATH
Obama said he was advised of a lead on the location of bin Laden — the Pakistan compound — in August last year which was followed up in the months that followed.
Obama said bin Laden was killed in a firefight at the compound last week, with DNA tests conducted to confirm his identity.
“We had located him, hiding within a compound, deep in Pakistan,” Obama said.
“At my direction, the US launched a targeted operation … no Americans were harmed and after a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden.”
Citing a senior Pakistani official, The Wall Street Journal said bin Laden was killed in a joint raid in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Abbottabad, some 40 miles from Islamabad, in a joint raid overnight Sunday.
The town also is home to a Pakistani military academy. Two American helicopters took part in the operation, the official said. One Pakistani helicopter involved in the raid crashed after it was hit by firing from militants.
A U.S. official said Monday morning that bin Laden has been buried at sea.
Senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition. That practice calls for the body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said. Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world’s most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, the official said. So the U.S. decided to bury him at sea.
As security agencies braced for possible revenge attacks by al Qaeda extremists, Obama in his statement warned that bin Laden’s death “does not mark the end of our effort … We must — and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
He added, “The US is not — and never will be -– at war with Islam … bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.
“The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.”
The stunning announcement of the death of the 9/11 terror mastermind was reported by FOX News Channel before the president made his live address to the nation. His surprise press conference was earlier set for 10:30pm ET but was pushed back by an hour.
Vice President Joe Biden notified congressional leaders of bin Laden’s demise shortly before 10:00pm, according to FOX, while world leaders were also told of the news.
Former President George W Bush, who was called by Obama to be briefed about bin Laden’s death before the announcement, said it was a “momentous achievement” that marked “a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
Bush was president on 9/11 and during the ensuing US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
As news spread of the 54-year-old bin Laden’s death, ahead of Obama’s announcement, crowds gathered outside the White House chanting in celebration and singing the national anthem.
Meanwhile in the US and around the Western world, security agencies began ramping up preparations in case of terror attacks. Experts speculated that although bin Laden’s death is a major coup, his terrorist lieutenants were still likely to continue their campaigns of hatred.
The world’s most wanted terrorist, bin Laden has been on the run since before the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001 which killed almost 3000 people in the US.
In his statement, Obama referenced that “bright September day” almost 10 years ago that “was darkened by an attack on our people.”
“Nearly 3000 citizens were taken from us leaving a gaping hole in our hearts,” he said.
“On that day no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were we were united as one American family.”
He paid tribute to the men who carried out the operation to kill bin Laden, and took a moment to remember those whose lives were impacted forever by the terror kingpin’s acts.
“Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss,” Obama said.
For much of the last decade bin Laden was believed to have been hiding in the mountainous border country between Afghanistan and Pakistan, although there was also speculation he spent some time in Iraq.
Bin Laden — the son of a wealthy Saudi family who turned to radical Islam — avoided capture in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, apparently escaping during a major assault on his stronghold at Tora Bora.
He has remained the major figurehead for al Qaeda and its affiliates, releasing occasional messages of defiance aimed at the West. It is believed he has battled kidney disease throughout his time as a fugitive, needing regular dialysis.
In 2004, he claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, in which 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, crashing two into the Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center. A third airliner crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania.
In a video released in December, 2001, bin Laden gloated about the 9/11 attacks, calling them “blessed terrorism.”
“Our terrorism is against America. Our terrorism is a blessed terrorism to prevent the unjust person from committing injustice and to stop American support for Israel, which kills our sons,” he said in the video.
Bin Laden was placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted list following the 1998 US Embassy bombings which targeted the nation’s embassies in the African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.
Hundreds of people died in the simultaneous truck bomb explosions.
‘Justice has been done’: President Barack Obama announces terror rat Osama bin Laden has been killed. (EPA)
Welcome to hell — The terror mastermind was killed in a firefight outside Islamabad, Pakistan (ZUMAPRESS.com)