US officials are starting to reveal details about the daring US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but key aspects of the helicopter-borne assault in Pakistan remain shrouded in secrecy.
According to accounts from senior officials, a partial picture has emerged:
How did the US discover bin Laden’s compound?
The trail for bin Laden had gone cold for years until the CIA learned where a trusted courier for the Al-Qaeda chief was operating two years ago. Detainees had told interrogators the messenger held a privileged place in bin Laden’s inner circle. A breakthrough came in August 2010, when the CIA tracked the courier and his brother to a large compound in Abbottabad, north of Islamabad.
But US officials have not explained how they pinpointed the courier. Was it a tip from Pakistani intelligence or information from a detainee?
By the time the operation to kill or capture bin Laden was ordered last Friday, US officials strongly suspected he was in the compound but had no photograph or rock-solid proof.
What were the other military options?
With the CIA increasingly confident – but not certain – that bin Laden was in the house in Abbotabad, serious planning for possible action started in March.
Apart from a helicopter assault with a team of special forces, Mr Obama weighed two other options: Bombing the compound from the air or waiting to gather more intelligence.
Bearing in mind disastrous raids from the past in Somalia and Iran, the helicopter assault option carried dangers for US troops and political risks for Washington’s relations with Islamabad, particularly if the raid went wrong.
Air strikes on the compound would have involved B-2 bombers or Tomahawk cruise missiles, CIA chief Leon Panetta told Time magazine.
Advisers told Mr Obama striking the compound would require 32 bombs of 2,000-pounds each, officials told the New York Times.
Bombing eliminated the risk of losing US troops or of a possible clash with Pakistani forces, but bin Laden’s body might not be recovered and there was a danger of causing major civilian casualties.
As for waiting to get more intelligence, the CIA director argued in favour of taking action, saying it was the best lead on bin Laden since 2001 in Afghanistan.
Why were no prisoners taken in the raid? And, was the mission for the Navy SEAL team to kill the Al-Qaeda leader?
The death of bin Laden and the White House’s decision not to release photos of his corpse has fed speculation about the Obama administration’s intentions. US officials said it was a “kill or capture” operation and that bin Laden might have been taken alive but he “resisted,” though they said he was unarmed.
The night time raid provided an element of surprise, giving defenders of the compound little time to react, according to a former Navy SEAL, Dick Hoffman.