US President Barack Obama on late Sunday night said Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks on US, was killed in an operation led by the United States.
The dreaded terrorist was killed in a firefight Sunday at a compound in Pakistan, the president said. He added that American troops took custody of his remains.
The announcement has effectively nailed Pakistan government’s claim that bin Laden is not in its country. The lie that the Pakistani establishment has been blatantly dishing out has been exposed with bin Laden’s death in its own soil.
“Justice has been done,” said the president in a dramatic late-night announcement at the White House.
News reports said a small team of Americans killed bin Laden in a firefight. US officials said they were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition.
A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden’s death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.
Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden’s death as a momentous achievement.
“The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done,” he said.
Reports said Obama ordered the operation after receiving undisclosed intelligence information. Senior administration officials said the terrorist mastermind was found inside a custom-built compound with two security gates. They said it appeared to have been constructed to harbor one high-value target and that for undisclosed reasons, officials became clear the hideout was bin Laden’s.
There was no word on the whereabouts of bin Laden’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri. It is interesting to note that the end to the world’s most widely-watched manhunt came just a few months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.
