WASHINGTON - The US special forces team that hunted down Osama bin Laden was under orders to
kill the al Qaida mastermind, not capture him, a US national security official told Reuters.
"This was a kill operation," the official said, making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan.
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large compound in a residential area of Abbottabad, Pakistan, some 35
miles north of Islamabad, killing the al Qaida leader in a fire fight
and capturing his body, according to senior administration officials.
The New York Times reported that his body was later buried at sea. No
Americans were killed or injured, though a helicopter was lost to
mechanical failure, they said.
US President Barack Obama addressed the nation in a televised address
from the White House late Sunday evening to announce the death.
“Justice has been done,” he said, bringing to an end the United States's 10-year mission to hold Osama bin
Laden accountable for masterminding the September 11 attacks.
Obama stressed that bin Laden’s demise did not conclude America’s effort
to end the threat posed by Al Qaida, and that future dangers remained.
“There’s no doubt that al Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against
us,” he warned. “We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and
abroad.”
But he said that this moment would send a strong signal that the United
States would do whatever was necessary to protect the American people.