Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad

Osama bin Laden's compound
Waziristan Haveli[1]
CIA aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound from east (2011)
Map of Pakistan showing the location of the compound Show map of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan
Alternative names	Bin Laden hideout compound
General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Compound
Location	Bilal Town, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Country	Pakistan
Coordinates	34°10′9.6″N 73°14′32.8″E / 34.169333°N 73.242444°E / 34.169333; 73.242444
Elevation	1,260 m (4,130 ft)[2]
Construction started	2003
Completed	2005
Inaugurated	6 January 2006 (date bin Laden was believed to have moved in)
Demolished	26 February 2012
Cost	US$250,000–1,000,000+ (disputed) (Rs. 21.25–85 million)
Client	Osama bin Laden
Owner	Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, Mohammed Arshad
Height
Roof	8.76 m (28 ft 9 in)[3]
Technical details
Floor count	3
Floor area	3,500 m2 (38,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Mohammed Younis
Architecture firm	Modern Associates[4]
Structural engineer	Gul Mohammed (wall builder), Noor Mohammad
Main contractor	Noor Mohammed

Osama bin Laden's compound, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli (Urdu: وزیرستان حویلی, romanized: Wazīristān Havelī, lit. 'Waziristan Mansion'), was a large, upper-class house within a walled compound used as a safe house for Saudi militant Islamist Osama bin Laden, who was shot and killed there by U.S. forces on 2 May 2011. The compound was located at the end of a dirt road 1,300 metres (3⁄4 mile) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy in Bilal Town, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, a suburb housing many retired military officers. Bin Laden was reported to have evaded capture by living in a section of the house for at least five years, having no Internet or phone connection, and hiding away from the public, who were unaware of his presence.

Completed in 2005, the main buildings in the compound lay on a 3,500-square-metre (38,000 sq ft) plot of land, much larger than those of nearby houses. Around its perimeter ran 3.7-to-5.5-metre-high (12 to 18 ft) concrete walls topped with barbed wire, and there were two security gates. The compound had very few windows. Little more than five years old, the compound's ramshackle buildings were badly in need of repainting. The grounds contained a well-kept vegetable garden, rabbits, some 100 chickens and a cow. The house itself did not stand out architecturally from others in the neighbourhood, except for its size and exaggerated security measures; for example, the third-floor balcony had a 2.13-metre (7 ft) privacy wall. Photographs inside the house showed excessive clutter and modest furnishings. After the American mission, there was extensive interest in and reporting about the compound and its design. To date, the Pakistani government has not responded to any allegations as to who had built the structure.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the U.S. searched for bin Laden for nearly 10 years. By tracking his courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti to the compound, U.S. officials surmised that bin Laden was hiding there. During a raid on 2 May 2011, 24 members of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group arrived by helicopter, breached a wall using explosives, and entered the compound in search of bin Laden. After the operation was completed and bin Laden was killed, Pakistan demolished the structure in February 2012.