By TCN Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: In a latest disclosure (a short while ago) that may invite further criticism, the US government has said that world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden was not armed when he was shot and killed by the American forces in Abottabad, Pakistan on Sunday night.
Many will ask: When he was not armed then why was he shot and killed? Why wasn’t he captured alive to put through legal process (like Saddam Hussain) and ultimately to be awarded a globally televised public hanging for his bloody acts of terrorism which killed thousands of innocent people?
Already, the US government is facing heavy flow of criticism for burying the body of Laden in the sea.
White House Spokesman Jay Carney read out a description of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound to reporters in Washington on Tuesday.
Excerpts from the official narrative on the raid:
On orders of the president, a small U.S. team assaulted a secure compound in an affluent suburb of Islamabad to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. The raid was conducted with U.S. military personnel assaulting on two helicopters. The team methodically cleared the compound, moving from room to room in an operation lasting nearly 40 minutes. They were engaged in a firefight throughout the operation and Osama bin Laden was killed by the assaulting force.
In addition to the Bin Laden family, two other families resided in the compound: one family on the first floor of the Bin Laden building and one family in a second building. One team began the operation on the first floor of the Bin Laden house and worked their way to the third floor. The second team cleared the separate building.
On the first floor of Bin Laden’s building, two Al Qaeda couriers were killed, along with a woman who was killed in crossfire. Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floors of the building. There was concern that Bin Laden would oppose the capture operation and indeed he did resist. In the room with Bin Laden, a woman, Bin Laden’s wife, rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.
Following the firefight, the noncombatants were moved to a safe location as the damaged helicopter was detonated. The team departed the scene via helicopter to the U.S.S. Carl Vinson in the north Arabian Sea. Aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, the burial of Bin Laden was done in accordance with Islamic precepts and practices. The deceased’s body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on prepared flat board, tipped up, and the deceased body eased into the sea…..
(Courtesy: New York Times)