[EARLIER UPDATES BELOW]
11:55PM EST: Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, President Obama said. The U.S. has his body in its possession, U.S. officials said late Sunday.
Mr. bin Laden was killed in a joint raid in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Abbottabad, some 40 miles from Islamabad, in a joint raid overnight Sunday, according to a senior Pakistani official.
The town also is home to a Pakistani military academy. Two American helicopters took part in the operation, the official said. One Pakistani helicopter involved in the raid crashed after it was hit by firing from militants.
President Barack Obama made the announcement late Sunday at the White House.
UPDATE 11:26PM EST: A national security source said that bin Laden was not killed in a drone strike, but declined to go into details about the forces that killed him.
“This is a terrific day for America and quite frankly the whole world that cares about winning the war on terror,” former Bush chief of staff Andy Card told ABC News. Card said the news is “particularly significant” for the intelligence community.
“They’re the ones who kept their nose to the grindstone and worked very hard to allow this day to be realized … finally,” he said.
UPDATE 11:21PM EST: A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation in Pakistan, not by a Predator drone. The official said it happened last week. Officials have long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
UPDATE 11:00PM EST: Sources said bin Laden was killed by a U.S. bomb a week ago. The U.S. had been waiting for the results of a DNA test to confirm his identity.
The announcement comes nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks which started a tireless hunt for the terrorist mastermind and Al Qaeda leader.
10:45PM EST: President Obama will announce tonight that Osama bin Laden has been killed, news outlets are reporting. The White House announced before 10 p.m. that Obama would make a rare statement. He will speak any minute.
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28 Responses
Rumor has it that a Misaskim van was spotted delivering chairs to the east room of the white house……
Awesome!
It’s a pity that he was discovered now, as it might help reelect Obama…
Its about time Osama, have fun in hell!
Can we watch the speech online live?
Obama is gonna take credit, don’t fool for his lies.
Baruch Hashem !!!!!!!!!
Soif ganov letliyah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trump is not gonna let anyone believe this till he sees the death certificate.
How do they know it’s really him and how do they know it’s his DNA? Why should Obama take credit for something he didn’t do?
Obama is going to make a statement read off his teleprompter.
Ba’avod reshaim rinah!
The only problem is the one who will be singing that Rina, good old BHO!!
They say Donald Trump doesn’t believe this until he sees the death certificate…..
Congratulations to the brave Americans who carried out this operation. The deaths of those murdered on 9/11 have been avenged.
And kudos to President Obama for authorizing this risky operation.
#1, thanks for the humor. always appreciated
WE SHOULD ALL BE ALL BE HANDING OUT CANDY AND DANCING IN THE STREETS.
It sounded like Obama said he was killed today ??
Yes,Obama will get credit for this…as he should. Old George Dubya must be twitching – as must be the know-nothing “Obama is a Muslim” crowd.
Excuse me but was this a “targeted killing?”
Does America approve of Israeli targeted killings of terrorists?
Mossad operation, with America taking credit
Did all the agents involved have proper ID and passports?
baruch dayan emes!
Is anyone allowed to sound somewhat intelligent on this blog? A historic moment has just occured and people are making sill 5 year old level jokes?
baruch hashem he is dead
THIS NEVER COULD HAPPEN without the blessing planning sanctioning and whim of the pakistani army intelligence and politics IT IS RASH to think that obama can just take all the credit we are like a dirty pet eating a disgusting morself of food as a afterthought
#24,
Your hatred for Obama ignores who major issues:
First, the government of Pakistan cooperated in this effort. Its ruling party claims to be left wing and secular, but it has not always been helpful in combatting terrorism. Hopefully this represents a sea change.
Second, Obama did authorize the operation. And when things go well on your watch, you get the credit. He was already very likely to get re-elected as he was +2 on the Lichtman keys; this counts as a major foreign policy success so he is now at +3. I don’t see what the Republicans can do to turn this around.
So who is going to give out candies to the children?
19: If this was a mossad operation, so was 9/11
No. 25 writes, in part: “He [Obama] was already very likely to get re-elected …. I don’t see what the Republicans can do to turn this around.”
I think you have underestimated the Republican Party’s willingness to tell big lies, and a portion of the American public’s willingness to believe the lies in the face of incontrovertible proof. Consider, for example, the reaction to the relase of the Presidnt’s birth certificate, first in 2008 and again a week ago.