Operation Geronimo[1] was the code name of a military operation by the United States that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, around 01:00 Pakistan Standard Time (May 1, 20:00 UTC, 16:00 EDT/13:00 PDT), in a raid by United States special forces troops on his residence in Pakistan. His death was officially announced by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 2 at 3:35 UTC (May 1, 23:35 EDT/20:35 PDT).[2]
United States Armed Forces shot and killed bin Laden after a firefight at the start of the 40-minute operation,[3][4] in Abbottābad,[5] a town 32 miles (51 km) north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad; they then seized his body before burying it at sea.[6][7][8]
The operation was carried out by members of the United States Navy SEALs from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU),[9]informally referred to as SEAL Team Six,[10] under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command, in conjunction with U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives.
A trail of evidence that originated from al-Qaeda detainees led to the careful monitoring of a compound suspected to be bin Laden's Pakistani residence. Eventually, US military forces were sent across the border of Afghanistan to launch the attack.[11] The body was recovered by the U.S. military and kept in its possession.[11][12]
The killing of bin Laden received a favorable reaction in the United States and was welcomed by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,[13] NATO, the European Union, and a large number of countries as a positive and significant turning point for global security and theWar on Terror.
Execution of the operation
The raid was carried out jointly by 20 to 25 helicopter-borne United States Navy SEALs from the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group(DEVGRU) under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command in cooperation with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Additional personnel on the mission included "tactical signals, intelligence collectors, and navigators using highly classified hyperspectral imagers."[27] According to The New York Times, "79 commandos and a dog were involved."[58]
The SEALs flew into Pakistan from Afghanistan and were transported to the compound in Black Hawk helicopters (Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk) that took off from Ghazi Airbase in northwest Pakistan.[27][59] Four helicopters were provided by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, two of which were intended to be backups.[60][50] The raid was scheduled for a time with little moon luminosity so the helicopters could enter Pakistan "low to the ground and undetected."[61]
Two helicopters carrying the primary assault team hovered over the compound and the SEALs fast-roped to the ground.[citation needed] One of the helicopters stalled, perhaps from its own prop wash, and was forced to make an emergency landing in the compound. At approximately 1 a.m. local time (20:00, May 1 UTC)[62][63], the compound's guards opened fire as the SEALS attacked the compound's structures[64].
The SEALs neutralized the compound's guards, then cleared the main building room-to-room.[65] Osama bin Laden, found in his third-floor quarters, where he had been sleeping[66], was shot twice, once in the head, and once in the chest, reportedly while trying to use one of his wives as a human shield.[67][68][69][70] The National Journal reported somewhat contradictory information that he was "done in by a double tap—boom, boom—to the left side of his face."[27][71] "The encounter with bin Laden lasted only seconds," according to Politico.[72]
Three other men present at the compound were also reportedly killed in the operation, including bin Laden's adult son Khaled, the courier and the courier's brother.[73] Also killed was a woman, Amal al Ahmed Sadah, reportedly bin Laden's fourth wife.[74][75] Two other women were injured.[76] Approximately 22 people in total were either killed or captured at the compound.[27] Those captured were left behind to be detained by Pakistani authorities.[77]
The raid was intended to take 30 minutes, all told the team was in and out out of the compound in 38 minutes[78], most of which was spent scrubbing the compound for information.[79] U.S. personnel removed computer hard drives, documents, DVDs, thumb drives and "electronic equipment" from the compound for later analysis.[77][80]
The helicopter that had made the emergency landing was damaged[50] and could not fly the team out. It was consequently destroyed to safeguard its classified equipment; U.S. forces "improvise[d] by packing the helicopter with explosives and blowing it up."[81][17] The assault team "called in one of two backup [helicopters]" to ferry them back to their base.[19]
The SEAL team helicopters were supported by multiple other aircraft, including fixed-wing fighter jets and drones. According to CNN, "The Air Force also had a full team of combat search-and-rescue helicopters including MH-53 Pave Low and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters."[82] The team that conducted the raid left the compound at approximately 4:15 p.m. ET[83] and landed back in Afghanistan at around 5:45 p.m ET (9:45 UTC).[50]
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