Inside bin Laden's lair: The aftermath | Caution: Disturbing images -9
Warning: The following images are graphic and potentially disturbing. Extreme caution advised
Wreckage is seen in the compound after U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, May 2, 2011. Bin Laden was killed in the U.S. special forces assault on the Pakistani compound, then quickly buried at sea, in a dramatic end to the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had been the guiding star of global terrorism.
Barack Obama may have blocked publication of Osama bin Laden's gruesome corpse pictures but news agency Reuters, in a release not authorised by the US government, distributed disturbing pictures of three other men killed at Bin Laden's Pakistan hideout. These images were taken right after the raid on May 2, 2011.
The pictures not only provide a glimpse into the compound of Osama's mansion in Abbottabad after the raid but also give a sense of the brutality involved in the Navy SEAL mission.
The photographs show wreckage lying about the compound including that of a US chopper that was damaged during the operation.
There are four other images that show unidentified men lying dead in pools of blood.
Caution: Disturbing images
The grounds of the compound are seen after U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad May 2, 2011. The new details emerging suggest that the raid was extremely one-sided
Administration officials said that the only shots fired by those in the compound came at the beginning of the operation, when Bin Laden's trusted courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, opened fire from behind the door of the guesthouse adjacent to the house where Bin Laden was hiding.
Part of a damaged helicopter is seen lying near the compound.
The SEALs had planned to place a rappelling team on the roof with a second team dropping into the courtyard. But on reaching their target, they suddenly had to improvise. One of the helicopters had to be put down hard
Post the raid, they destroyed the helicopter that gave them trouble. "We had to blow the helicopter," Panetta said, "and that probably woke up a lot of people, including the Pakistanis."
The unidentified body of a man is seen after a raid by U.S.
Intelligence officials who had been monitoring the compound for months surmised bin Laden and his family lived on its second and third floors, because his trusted courier -- who had unwittingly drawn the U.S. to this unlikely hideout -- occupied the first floor, with his brother in a guesthouse.
On the first floor, the SEALs killed the courier and his brother, and the courier's wife died in crossfire. This image shows the body of yet another unidentified man who was killed in the raid.
The raiders faced life-and-death decisions. The SEALs went in with the assumption that some of those they met might be wearing explosive suicide vests. They took no chances and shot this man down as well.
Within forty minutes, five were dead and one wounded as the U.S. precision strike killed Bin Laden and his son; Al Qaeda courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, and Kuwaiti's wife and brother. The team found a trove of information (DVDs, computer disks, drives) and had the time to remove much of it.
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