For almost ten years, the United States had been tirelessly searching for one man - Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind behind the September 11th attacks that killed almost three thousand Americans and triggered a war that was still raging today - May 2nd, 2011. While the United States had toppled the Taliban, the government that was sheltering Bin Laden at the time of the attacks, they had never been able to capture or kill the man. That was about to change.
The CIA had been searching for Bin Laden’s secret base for years with no luck. He had managed to escape from Afghanistan, which was under US occupation, and travel to the neighboring country of Pakistan. But in the mountainous, rural regions of Pakistan, with little government oversight, it was easy for him to stay under the radar.
The government had been looking for leads for years, but finally got their break in 2010, when their leads led them to a compound in Abbottabad. They began taking surveillance footage of the compound, and determining the best way to breach it. What followed was one of the trickiest intelligence-gathering operations in US history.
The compound was heavily guarded and in enemy territory. The US had to rely heavily on local help to gather intelligence, and over a period of months they spied on the three-story building. They learned every detail about the building, but a lot was still missing.
For one thing, the infamous terror leader was incredibly secretive - so secretive, that they were never able to capture an image of him coming in or out of the building. So everything was still circumstantial, but after an extended period of time, they were able to conclude that this was were Osama Bin Laden. Now it was time to take action.
It was April 29th when President Obama was briefed on the details of the operation. Many within his security team were skeptical about the operation - after all, if it went wrong, top US troops would either be killed or remain trapped behind enemy lines. Not only would this be a disastrous loss of life, but it would potentially expose many of the US’ biggest secrets if they were interrogated and forced to reveal classified information.
And with the doubts that Bin Laden truly in the compound, many didn’t feel it was worth the risk. Ultimately, the President disagreed - and he gave the okay to the operation that would become Operation Neptune Spear. And the people carrying it out would be the best of the best.
Meet Seal Team 6. An elite squadron of the highly-trained Navy Seals, they answer directly to the Joint Special Operations Command and carry out some of the most highly classified operations the US government is involved with. These include hostage rescue, special espionage missions, counterterrorism, targeting of enemy infrastructure, and direct action against the deadliest of US enemies - like Osama Bin Laden.
They would be briefed on the mission, which would be classified as capture-or-kill. Officially, the US has the policy of never killing an enemy who has already surrendered - but no one involved in the mission had any delusion that Osama Bin Laden would ever surrender. And to pull this all off they had to implement some risky strategies.
The planning had been going on for the better part of a year, since the intelligence reports started coming in, and many strategies had been considered. The easiest would have been a joint operation with Pakistani military forces - but the Pakistani government wasn’t exactly friendly and the US was worried that Bin Laden could be tipped off in advance. The US also considered striking at the compound with stealth bombers, which could atomize Bin Laden - but there would be no way of following up to ensure he was already dead, and the tricky terror leader had managed to escape US operations before.
So instead, the government decided to go old-school. Seal Team 6 would be flown in using modified Black Hawk helicopters that were designed to be quiet and would be able to fly in under enemy radar. The Pakistani military had been heavily trained and supplied by US advisors, so their capabilities were known - and the US was confident they could get around them.
The goal was to get to the compound without being detected or challenged by the Pakistani forces - and once the target was down, they would be able to beat a hasty retreat. May 1st, 1:22 PM. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta received the word from the President, and directed Admiral William McRaven to move ahead with the operation.
Within the next two hours, President Obama and his national security team would move to the Situation Room to watch the whole thing unfold over night-vision images transmitted to them from a drone. The roughly 24 Navy SEALS sent on the mission would temporarily be transferred to the control of the CIA, so it would technically not be a military mission and would not be classified as an act of war. These were going to be some of the most critical minutes in the US’ modern history - and for the men on the ground, every single minute would count.
While the roughly two dozen SEALs were the ones who would breach the compound, there were 79 commandos and a dog involved in the raid. The dog, a Belgian Malinois named Cairo, was there to alert the SEALs to any sudden activity - including the Pakistani military approaching the compound, or anyone trying to escape. The core team was backed up by a dog handler, interpreters, pilots, intelligence agents, and tech experts who would make it all possible.
But the success or failure of the mission would hinge on the men entering the compound. And one wrong move could spell doom. 3:30 AM - give or take.
Two helicopters descend on the Abbottabad compound. While the other helicopters stand by in case they’re needed, these two will carry out the primary mission. Flying low to the ground, the stealthy Black Hawk helicopters hover over the compound grounds.
While the first deploys ropes to lower its team to the ground, the other heads to the far northeast corner to covertly drop off its interpreter, dog, handler, and four SEALs. If everything went smoothly, they would soon be at the compound. But everything didn’t go smoothly.
While the helicopters weren’t detected and they didn’t come under hostile fire, mother nature had something to say. The first helicopter flew into what’s known as a vortex ring state - an air phenomenon caused by higher-than-expected temperatures creating an air vortex. The rotor’s air pressure didn’t diffuse properly, the helicopter was knocked off balance, and it grazed the back of the compound wall.
The tail rotor was seriously damaged, and the helicopter started rolling over. The quick-thinking pilot drove the helicopter into the ground nose-first, preventing a total collapse, and the SEALs and crew were able to escape unscathed after a rough landing. Now the only question was - had this blown their secret mission?
The answer seemed to be no, as there was no sign of aggression from the compound. The SEALs had successfully weathered a crash landing without being detected, the helicopter was secure against the compound walls, and the other helicopter had landed safely outside the compound. The rest of the team was scaling the walls, and the whole team was reunited.
The next step was breaching the compound - and that’s where the SEALs’ explosives team came in. They needed to get in quickly and hit the people inside with shock and awe. Outside, preparation was key - but once they were inside, every second would count.
Ten years of searching had come down to this. 3:33 AM - To get through the security, the SEALs used portable explosives to blow open the doors of the compound’s guest house, one by one. They breached the compound and began storming up the stairs.
The first room they encountered on the first floor contained two adult males - but none of them was Osama bin Laden. They were detained, but they weren’t the target. More disturbing - every floor seemed to contain small groups of children.
This wasn’t just a terrorist compound - it was a home where the terrorists kept their families, regardless of all the danger they were putting them in. And with every floor the SEALs ascended, the danger would escalate. 3:35 - What happened next?
Reports of that may vary. As they reached the second floor, they encountered more resistance. This is where Bin Laden’s courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, was found - and SEAL Mark Owen would controversially write a book on the firefight.
He claimed that al-Kuwaiti was armed and fired on the SEALs. While one SEAL was lightly injured, they returned fire and killed the evil courier. However, intelligence sources later said that the SEALs were able to get the drop on the man after cutting power to the compound and eliminated him without him fighting back.
What was clear was that they still hadn’t encountered the man himself. 3:37 - It was time to ascend once again, and the resistance became fiercer the further the SEALs headed into the house. They had encountered the courier, as well as his brother and wife, and all enemies had either been killed or captured.
As they ascended the staircase, they encountered another enemy - and this one provided a glimmer of hope. After the Al Qaeda soldier was killed, the SEALs identified him as a son of Osama Bin Laden - one of the terror leader’s many progenies who followed in his footsteps. And if he was there, the odds were good his father wasn’t far away.
3:39 - There was only one floor left to be breached, the third - and the SEALs were steeling themselves for yet another disappointment. This was clearly a high-level Al Qaeda compound, but Bin Laden had been notorious for staying one step ahead of his pursuers, and he could be far away by now. But as they breached the third floor, it became clear this time was different.
In the third floor’s main room was Osama Bin Laden - seemingly unarmed and wearing the loose-fitting tunic he was usually seen wearing in his many propaganda videos. The SEALs got their first glimpse of him as he stuck his head out of the bedroom… And they didn’t miss their opportunity. They immediately fired, wounding him.
However, he was able to retreat back into the bedroom, and the SEALs pursued. The room was revealed to contain many of Bin Laden’s female relatives, including several of his wives. One approached the SEALs, as if she was charging - and the SEALs quickly shot her to wound, grabbing her and advancing further towards the terror leader.
Osama Bin Laden had nowhere left to run, and America’s most skilled soldiers were right outside his door. What happened next? Reports vary.
Matt Bissonnette, one of the SEALs on site, claims that Bin Laden had been mortally wounded by the initial shots as they approached. His wives were trying to protect him, and the SEALs were forced to act as any one of them could have an explosive device. But when they pushed past them, they found Bin Laden on the ground, mortally wounded.
As he moved, they fired multiple shots and neutralized the terror leader for good. But another SEAL had a very different story. Robert J.
O’Neill would become one of the first SEALs to identify himself as one of the men on the mission, and had a much more dramatic recollection of the events. In his retelling, Osama bin Laden might have been wounded, but he was far from neutralized. In fact, he was strong enough to grab one of the women in the room and hide behind her, using her as a human shield.
As bin Laden pushed the hapless woman towards the SEALs, O’Neill quickly fired two shots directly into bin Laden’s forehead and killed him. Which report was accurate? The Navy after-action report favors Bissonnette’s retelling.
And just like that, one of the most notorious enemies of the United States was no more. The SEAL team radioed back “For God and country - Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo” - officially confirming that the enemy had been killed in action. The entire affair had taken less than fifteen minutes from landing to the elimination of Osama bin Laden, one of the most efficient operations in US military history - and it had been completed without a single death or serious injury to the entire Navy SEAL team.
Watching from the situation room, President Obama uttered the words the entire White House team had been waiting to hear - “We got him. ” But the mission wasn’t over just yet. 3:55 - The SEAL team members quickly sprung into action, securing bin Laden’s body and moving it downstairs.
They would be exiting shortly, but there was still some extensive cleanup work to do. The compound might be a source of vital intelligence, and they thoroughly searched the room and surrounding area. They found two weapons in the room - an assault rifle and a pistol - but the efficient team had managed to neutralize bin Laden before he could reach them.
They weren’t loaded - indicating that the Al Qaeda leader was not expecting a firefight. But what to do about the other residents? Almost everyone who had engaged the US troops with weapons had been killed, but the compound was full of civilians.
The US had no desire to take all the women and children found there into custody, so they non-violently restrained them and left them outside the compound to be found by Pakistani forces. Most didn’t put up any resistance - besides the injured wife of Bin Laden, Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah. She berated the SEALs in Arabic for the entire duration of the clean-up mission, and it seemed the Yemeni woman was a true believer in her late husband’s mission.
She, like most of the people found there, would eventually be deported from Pakistan back to their home countries in the Middle East. And now, it was time to make a clean getaway. 4:05 - Bin Laden’s body and every important piece of intelligence or evidence had been secured.
Taking what they needed, the first helicopter was loaded and primed for takeoff. Much like the landing, this was a low take-off to avoid detection. For those back in the United States, the SEALs were heroes - but this was an unauthorized mission, and it was unlikely the Pakistani forces would be grateful if they were caught there.
But much like the first time, SEAL Team Six pulled off a perfect getaway and exited the compound. But there was one more matter to attend to. 4:08 - The damaged Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in the compound would not be leaving through the sky and Pakistani forces would be there shortly.
The chopper contained vital information about US military capabilities - because it wasn’t just a standard helicopter and had been outfitted with stealth features. So before they departed, the troops used the same portable explosives like the ones they had used to breach the compound - and gave their fallen chopper an explosive send-off. This only took minutes, and soon one of the backup helicopters brought on the mission arrived, scooped up the remaining Navy SEALs, and flew them off to join the first helicopter.
The mission was over - and now it was time for a long ride. 5:53 - The ride back was over an hour and a half - more than three times the length of the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. But now that it was over, they had to get back to safe territory - back in US-occupied Afghanistan, where the Americans had been fighting since the days after the September 11th terror attacks.
While it was unlikely the Pakistanis would fire on a US chopper if it was detected, a stealthy escape would go much smoother, so the US troops had used some disinformation efforts. As the various explosions led to crowds before takeoff, an Urdu-speaking American military officer claimed it had been a Pakistani operation being carried at the compound and to keep their distance. It worked, and the American landed safely at Bagram Airfield - carrying the body of Osama Bin Laden.
Now it was time to deal with the aftermath. 7:01 - Back at the White House, the celebration was tempered by one question - was it really him? Bin Laden was infamous for using body doubles, and there had been multiple times where it was thought he had been killed only for it to turn out to be a feint.
So everyone waited anxiously for the results of preliminary examinations of the corpse - and over an hour after the SEALs arrived in Afghanistan, a new report came in indicating that the notorious rogue was actually dead. This time, the United States had gotten their man. And the American public was about to find out.
It was the evening of May 1st when word started going around that the President was going to be making a speech on TV that night. Usually, when Barack Obama made a planned speech, it was early in the evening during prime time - often to the annoyance of everyone who was trying to watch their favorite TV show. But this unplanned speech on short notice was different - and political watchers kept waiting until the President ascended the podium at less than half an hour to midnight.
And as soon as he opened his mouth, people knew this was big. 11:35 - “Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. ” As the President paid tribute to the many who had died in bin Laden’s terror attacks, a spontaneous celebration erupted around the country.
It was just short of ten years since the September 11th terror attacks, and many Americans lived in fear of the next attack. As word got around, large groups of fans attending sports games screamed in joy. Democrats exulted in the biggest foreign policy win of the Obama Presidency - and Republicans celebrated the end of an enemy while wondering if they should even bother running against him next year!
And there was only one thing left to do. 12:59 - It was a little over an hour after President Obama’s speech, and the troops had one major piece of business left to attend to - what to do with Osama bin Laden’s body? The terror leader had been fully tested and examined, and they were sure he was their guy.
He had been checked for any vital intel, and the body had no more secrets to give up. The only thing left to do was dispose of the body, but there was one problem with that. No one wanted him!
Bin Laden was wanted in just about every country on the planet, and even the countries where he had sought refuge - Pakistan and Afghanistan - considered him an outlaw. No country would want to give him a grave, because it would be a massive target for radical activity. No one wants to have an Al Qaeda pilgrimage in your country every year.
So why not just cremate his body and be done with it? Cremation is against Islamic tradition, and as hated as the terror leader was, the government still wanted to respect his faith. No need to anger his followers any more than they already were - given that their leader had just been eliminated.
Fortunately, there was an alternative. Bin Laden’s body was loaded on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, and the US government called the government of Saudi Arabia for approval to dispose of the body. He was a Saudi citizen, after all, and the Saudis were important allies of the US government at the time.
And the Saudi response was - we don’t care what you do with him, just don’t make it our problem! The plan to bury Osama bin Laden at sea was approved, and the body was treated with Muslim religious rites. There was even a brief reading of Arabic religious statements, at which point the body was draped in a white shroud, place in a bag loaded with hundreds of pounds of iron chains, and placed on a wooden board.
As the board was tilted forward, Bin Laden’s body slipped into the sea - ensuring the terror leader would never have a grave that could be visited by loyalists, or targeted by enemies. And now that the entire operation was over, there was only the cleanup to attend to. It was roughly 3 AM local time in Pakistan when their Army chief received a phone call informing the country of the operation that took place in their borders.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff filled him in on the details - and likely smoothed over some angry words. While there was some brief dispute of whether any Pakistani forces had been involved, the government denied this and reports stated that the Pakistani planes which scrambled to the location had only arrived after all the US forces had departed. This is not where the aftermath ended through.
The raid that killed Osama bin Laden had played out over less than an hour, but the follow-up would span years. Controversies centered around the legality of the raid on foreign soil - although the laws passed after 9/11 gave the US wide latitude to eliminate threats abroad. Pakistan wasn’t pleased with the US operating on their soil, and the US wanted to know more about bin Laden’s network of support in Pakistan.
Neither got too many answers. Conspiracy theories persisted about bin Laden being alive - although the US government releasing some photos of the terror leader’s corpse largely put those to rest. And there was one more inevitable act.
Once the operation was partially declassified, various members of the team started putting out memoirs. Some varied in details - and most made the person writing the book out to be the hero. So naturally, it wasn’t long before Hollywood came calling.
Only a year and a half after the death of Osama bin Laden, the movie “Zero Dark Thirty” was released and its pick for the hero was…a fictional intelligence analyst played by Jessica Chastain. Because it wouldn’t be a key moment in American history without Hollywood putting its own spin on it. Want to know more about this famous manhunt?
Check out “Weird Things Navy SEALs Discovered in Osama Bin Laden’s Compound”, or watch this video instead.
