No U.S. operatives were hurt or killed in the dramatic, early-morning raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden in his northern Pakistan hideout. At least, none that we know about here at 1:50 in the morning, eastern time. But there may have been casualties among the Americans? allies, according to fragmentary press reports in the hours after the attack. That would mean U.S. troops had some friends along during the raid, despite some sources insisting it was an Americans-only show.
Let?s be clear: in these heady hours, information is flying in all directions, and a lot of it is bound to be wrong. But several early reports, if true, offer a very murky window into possible direct Pakistani assistance in the killing of Bin Laden. The reports also underscore the scale and ferocity of the raid ? and into the aerial weaponry the Americans used to pull off arguably the most important military operation of the decade.
Under the cover of darkness, two or three helicopters infiltrated U.S. operators ? maybe Special Operations Forces, maybe CIA agents, maybe both. They were brought into the vicinity of a compound where Bin Laden was thought to be hiding, near the city of Abbottabad around 35 miles from the Pakistani capital.
?The physical security measures of the compound are extraordinary. It has 12- to 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire.? Internal wall sections ? internal walls sectioned off different portions of the compound to provide extra privacy. Access to the compound is restricted by two security gates,? a senior administration official told reporters tonight. ?The main structure, a three-story building, has few windows facing the outside of the compound.? A terrace on the third floor has a seven-foot wall privacy ? has a seven-foot privacy wall.?
One or two American choppers arrived safely near the compound. A third bird ? allegedly a Pakistani bird ? was struck by ground fire, some local news outlets claimed.
?According to eyewitnesses, a low-flying helicopter crashed in a populated area and as a result two houses were engulfed in flames,? a Pakistani news service reported, an hour before the world knew Bin Laden was dead. ?Three people including two women were injured in the attack and were taken to the CMH Hospital.?
?A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad,? tweeted Sohaib Athar, a local IT consultant. ?I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S?
The crash occurred near the Pakistani Military Academy in Abbottabad, according to the report, highlighting Bin Laden?s long-term proximity to Pakistan government forces ? and thus the great extent of his local protection. The two injured women were almost certainly bystanders on the ground. It?s not clear if the injured man was a member of the helicopter crew or another civilian.
The apparent details surrounding the helicopter shoot-down fill in some of the (perhaps intentional) gaps left by U.S. President Barack Obama when he announced late Sunday night that Bin Laden was dead and his body was in American custody.
The operation itself was the culmination of years of careful and highly advanced intelligence work. Officers from the CIA, the NGA, the NSA all worked very hard as a team to analyze and pinpoint this compound.
The President and, later, a pair of senior administration officials, hinted at a brief, intense battle at Bin Laden?s compound ? a 40 minute-raid that killed Bin Laden, one of his sons, and two of his couriers. But Obama made no mention of a hot landing zone ? one of the most dangerous scenarios in modern military operations. It appears, as of this moment, that the raid that killed Bin Laden was no mere nighttime snatch-and-grab. It was a battle.
The scale of the resistance implies an equivalent U.S. force. It?s unlikely the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command would risk sending in a lightly-protected team to face terrorists capable of shooting down helicopters. That means air cover ? most likely armed drones or Air Force gunships flying from one of America?s secretive Pakistani bases.
As for the infiltrating U.S. choppers themselves, the terrain offers clues about their identity. Abbottabad starts out at around 5,000 feet above sea level and only gets higher. The commando-transporting 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment possesses modified versions of the regular Army?s UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
The Blackhawk is the less powerful of the two, and in Afghanistan the Army tends to assign it to missions under 6,000 feet. The Chinook handles the higher altitudes that are common across eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. For that reason, I suspect the American choppers over Abbottabad were tricked-out MH-47Gs, armed with up to four door guns. (Pictured above.)
Obama also only hinted at the level of Pakistani involvement in the raid. ?It?s important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden,? the president said. Senior administration officials on a conference call shortly after Obama?s announcement made a somewhat contradictory point. They said that the U.S. didn?t share intelligence with Pakistan immediately prior to the raid.
That would seem to run counter to the initial local news reports clearly stating that at least one Pakistani chopper was involved in the assault. A later report insists there were just two choppers, they were both American, and one was damaged flying in and subsequently destroyed by U.S. forces to avoid it falling into enemy hands.
?Since taliban (probably) don?t have helicopters, and since they?re saying it was not ?ours?, so must be a complicated situation,? Athar tweeted.
Depending on which version is true, Pakistan either had a direct role in the risky, bloody raid ? or no role at all. I?m sure this will all get cleared up soon, as more info emerges about the long-awaited killing of the 9/11 mastermind.
Photo: U.S. Army
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