Osama Bin Ladan Death PICS And Abbottabad PICS

Late during the night between May 1 and May 2 in Pakistan there was news floating of a low-flying helicopter having blown up in the city of Abbottabad. Osama Bin Laden was killed not by a drone strike, but up close during a firefight with U.S. troops. He was not living in a cave when he died, but in a million-dollar mansion with seven-foot walls just 40 miles from the Pakistani capital, where U.S. forces killed him Sunday.

Abbottabad is situated in the Orash Valley, 50 km northeast of Islamabad and 150 km east of Peshawar at an altitude of 4,120 feet (1,260 m) and is the capital of the Abbottabad District. The city is well-known throughout Pakistan for its pleasant weather, high standard educational institutions and military establishments.The people of Abbottabad are very peaceful and good.

Talat Masood, a former Pakistani army general, said the killing of Mr. bin Laden will have a huge impact on al Qaeda's morale, even if he was not involved in the day-to-day running of the organization. "It's a huge setback for al Qaeda forces in psychological and military terms," Mr. Masood said. "They'd built a myth surrounding him. He's a leader who is supposed to be irreplaceable."

A crowd gathered outside the White House to celebrate, chanting, "USA, USA." Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had repeatedly vowed to bring bin Laden to justice "dead or alive" for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly3,000 people, but never did before leaving office in early 2009.

Some sources wrote on the death of Osama that Osama bin Laden's death is likely to have a dramatic impact on the dynamic between the U.S. and Pakistan, where relations recently have been strained, and in the Afghan war, the longest in U.S. history.

This is a huge development in the War on Terror, even if Osama Bin Laden’s actual role had now become symbolic rather than operational. It is a development that also has huge implications for Pakistan, and for Pakistan-US relations.