The operation was practised on one to one replicas of the compound by an elite squad of Seal Team Six operatives which were built in Nevada and Virginia. On April 28th, the operatives arrived in Jalalabad and awaited instructions.
That night, Obama was restless. If the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden were faulty or if the Pakistani government discovered the operation, it could set back him being tracked down by months or perhaps even years. On the other hand, if it was a success, the most wanted man in the world would be brought to justice. On May 1st, Obama decided what to do.
Operation Neptune Spear began at around 11 pm local time, with 2 black hawk helicopters, which were modified to make less sound, approaching the compound in Abbottabad. Aboard the helicopters were the 23 SEALS, a translator and a dog named Cairo, who was there to look for hidden rooms and check for incoming Pakistani militant forces. 2 chinooks, carrying a spare 25 SEALS, were stationed at the ready incase of a hostile reaction from the Pakistani military.
The first helicopter was supposed to hover above the yard, letting the SEALS slide down a rope onto the lawn. However, due to weather conditions, the helicopter crashed inside the lawn. No-one was injured but they had lost the element of surprise. The SEALS from helicopter 1 breached the gates and moved through the compound whilst a group from helicopter 2, which touched down safely just outside the compound, were deterring neighbouring villagers.
3 SEALS from helicopter 1 split off to deal with the guest house whilst the SEALS not tasked with crowd control from helicopter 2 breached from the north. Those who went to deal with the guest house encountered Ahmed, to whom they engaged in a small firefight, resulting in the death of Ahmed. Meanwhile, the other SEALS managed to breach the main building, killing Ahmed’s brother and his brother’s wife.
After the stairway was breached, bin Laden’s 23-year-old son, Khalid bin Laden was killed in the stairwell. On the third floor, they discovered a tall thin man, peering out from behind the doorway of a bedroom. The SEALS took fire but either missed or landed non-lethal shots. One of the women in the room made a motion as if to charge at the lead SEAL but was shot in the leg. Robert O’Neill charged past the leader and spotted the man behind a woman, with his hands on her shoulders. As he went to push her, O’Neill shot the man twice in the head and once more as he crumpled to the floor.
Over the radio, the White house staff heard “For God and country. Geronimo. Geronimo. Geronimo.” That was the code word for an enemy killed in action. The most hated man in the USA, the most wanted man on the planet, the architect behind the deaths of 3,000 innocent American lives was finally dead.
There were no casualties on the American side with only 5 dead inside the compound. The assault was completed in only 15 minutes, with the rest of the time spent collecting hard drives whilst a demolition team destroyed any evidence of the helicopter crash. One of the chinooks helped the SEALS home as well as carrying the corpse of bin Laden, to a safehouse where his identity was officially confirmed.
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