Pakistan demolishing the house of Osama bin Laden

Hideout of Osama bin Laden

Pakistan government on Saturday (25/02/2012) started demolishing the house in Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden lived and died last May during a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs.


An Abbottabad resident said Two bulldozers working under floodlight completed the demolition shortly before midnight.
Local residents and media are seen outside the house where Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.


After the raid that killed bin Laden, Pakistan was left with a choice of whether to demolish the house or to manage it as a tourist attraction.


Immediately after the midnight raid that killed bin Laden, hundreds of local tourists came to look at the house in Abbottabad, a pleasant town ringed by Himalayan foothills about 30 miles northeast of Islamabad, and to collect parts of the downed U.S. Black Hawk that crashed during the sortie.
But soon afterward, Pakistan's military intelligence posted operatives in the area around the clock to stop journalists and tourists from getting close to the house.

The compound, which was largely hidden behind a large perimeter wall, was an embarrassment for the Pakistan government. It was located in an area of similar houses, bounded by fields of rice and other crops, only a few miles from Pakistan's premier military academy and in a garrison town thick with retired military personnel.


The location of the house raised questions among U.S. officials about how bin Laden was able to live there for five years without raising suspicions. Until now, however, the U.S. has stated it has found no evidence that Pakistan's military or government helped shelter the former al Qaeda leader.


Pakistan's military was humiliated by the unilateral U.S. raid on its territory, of which it was given no forewarning. The army's leaders perhaps also saw the house as an unwanted reminder of an event which hurt its image with many Pakistanis.


Immediately after the raid, local officials were split on what to do with the house. Some local government officials said they hoped it would become a permanent attraction and help bring more tourists through the town, which relies largely on a large military presence to drive its economy. Other locals at the time said it should be destroyed to end any association between Abbottabad and bin Laden.


While opinion polls show most Pakistanis are now opposed to al Qaeda, which in recent years has launched a number of strikes against Pakistan government, military and civilian targets, some people in Pakistan still admire bin Laden for his role in fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s and for attacking the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Osama bin Laden

In the end, the decision to demolish the house was likely taken by Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence directorate military spy agency.

The house legally belonged to a Pakistani man who worked as bin Laden's courier and was killed along with his brother in the raid.


Land records showed a man believed to be the courier purchased land for the house from four sellers for a total of around $50,000 in 2004 and 2005.


Local property dealers valued the compound, which included a three-story whitewashed house with a garden and a large connected area for grazing animals, at around $300,000.