Navy SEALs Kill Bin Laden: Decade-Long Hunt Ends
U.S. Navy SEALs from DEVGRU (formerly SEAL Team Six) raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011 (May 1 in US time zones), killing Osama bin Laden in a 40-minute operation codenamed Neptune Spear. Bin Laden had been living in the compound, located just 800 meters from Pakistan's premier military academy, for approximately five years. Two Black Hawk helicopters carried 23 SEALs into the compound; one crashed in the courtyard but no Americans were injured. CIA director Leon Panetta monitored the raid in real time from Langley. President Obama watched from the White House Situation Room. Bin Laden was shot twice and buried at sea from the USS Carl Vinson within 24 hours. The discovery of his location relied on tracking a courier named Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti over several years.
May 1, 2011
15 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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