New footage emerges of bin Laden compound

Al Jazeera obtains new pictures showing interiors of house in Pakistan where al-Qaeda leader was killed.

Bin Laden house

Al Jazeera has obtained new footage of the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed.

The pictures show the interiors of the house where the al-Qaeda leader is thought to have been hiding for up to six years.

Filmed during daylight hours, there is no doubt that this is the house where bin Laden was shot and killed by US forces, Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab said, reporting from the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

It was not immediately clear how long after the raid that the footage was taken.

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“We can see the exteriors of the house; we see a garden where vegetables were grown. We see an area where animals were being raised – possible clues of how the people who lived within the high walls of this compound managed to sustain themselves with very little interaction with the outside world,” our correspondent said.

“These pictures … give a sense of just how Osama bin Laden – the world’s most wanted fugitive – lived relatively undetected right here in Abbottabad.”

US forces raided the compound in a covert operation on Sunday, killing bin Laden and four others. The US team then quickly swept the compound for useful intelligence, making off with a cache of computer equipment and documents.

Our correspondent said Pakistani forces have been in charge of the house since the US operation.

“They, presumably, have taken with them what they deemed important as well,” Tyab said.

Al-Qaeda confirms death

The administration of Barack Obama, the US president, has decided against releasing images of the al-Qaeda leader’s body in the aftermath of the raid, saying doing so could go against the country’s national security interests.

But al-Qaeda has confirmed bin Laden’s death and said in an online posting that it will continue to launch attacks on the West.

The group said it would not deviate from the path of armed struggle and that bin Laden’s blood “is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain”.

The statement was released on forums sympathetic to al-Qaeda and translated by the SITE monitoring service on Friday.

Source: Al Jazeera