Nearly ten years after the United States invaded Afghanistan in response to the attacks on 9/11, Al-Qaeda's top commander was killed by American ground forces at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the president said.
"Tonight, I can report to the American people and the world that the United States conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and the terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children," said the president.
Obama noted that cooperation with Pakistani and American intelligence agencies helped lead American forces to bin Laden. "Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this threat to ground. Finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to Justice.
"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out that operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
Obama described bin Laden's death as the "most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al-Qaeda."
The announcement comes at a time when Afghan president Hamid Karzai's unpopular government is increasingly being seen as unstable and corrupt. It was also announced on the day the Taliban launched their spring offense with a suicide attack that killed three people, while armed attackers shot and killed two police officers in a separate incident.
"On nights like this one," the president said, "we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to Al-Qaeda's terror, 'justice has been done.'"
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