![]() ![]() The next 23 or so were spent blowing up the broken chopper, after rounding up nine women and 18 children, to get them out of range of the blast.Who’s the king of the playground? The kid with an electric car. It took approximately 15 minutes to reach bin Laden, one official said. They were among a handful of weapons that were removed to be inventoried. KIDS HOVER CAR CODEThe SEAL behind him opened fire at bin Laden, putting one bullet in his chest, and one in his head.īack at the White House Situation Room, word was relayed that bin Laden had been found, signaled by the code word "Geronimo." That was not bin Laden's code name, but rather a representation of the letter "G." Each step of the mission was labeled alphabetically, and "Geronimo" meant that the raiders had reached step "G," the killing or capture of bin Laden, two officials said.Īs the SEALs began photographing the body for identification, the raiders found an AK-47 rifle and a Russian-made Makarov pistol on a shelf by the door they'd just run through. The first SEAL grabbed the two women and shoved them away, fearing they might be wearing suicide bomb vests, they said. Two women were in front of bin Laden yelling and trying to protect him, two officials said. Now, the raiders were outside, and they'd lost the element of surprise. The other aircraft did not even attempt hovering, landing its SEALs outside the compound. The pilot quickly buried the aircraft's nose in the dirt to keep it from tipping over, and the SEALs clambered out into an outer courtyard. As he did, the tail and rotor got caught on one of the compound's 12-foot (3.6-meter) walls. ![]() The Black Hawk skittered around uncontrollably in the heat-thinned air, forcing the pilot to land. The plan unraveled as the first helicopter tried to hover over the compound. They would have stormed the building in a matter of minutes, as they'd done time and again in two training models of the compound. The two SEAL teams inside would work toward each other, in a simultaneous attack from above and below, their weapons silenced, guaranteeing surprise, one of the officials said. If troops appeared, the plan was to hunker down in the compound, avoiding armed confrontation with the Pakistanis while officials in Washington negotiated their passage out. KIDS HOVER CAR PLUSThe second was to hover above the roof to drop SEALs there, then land more SEALs outside, plus an interpreter and the dog, who would track anyone who tried to escape and to alert SEALs to any approaching Pakistani security forces. One Black Hawk was to hover above the compound, with SEALs sliding down ropes into the open courtyard. This elite branch of SEALs had been hunting bin Laden in eastern Afghanistan since 2001. The job was given to a SEAL Team 6 unit, just back from Afghanistan, one official said. 11, 2001, attacks, though this one, some 90 miles inside Pakistan, was unlike any other, the officials say. special operations forces have made approximately four forays into Pakistani territory since the Sept. Video: Former top Afghan spy speaks out on "60 Minutes" "60 Minutes": Ex-Afghan spy chief calls Pakistan "hostile state" officials feared if it leaked to the press, bin Laden would disappear for another decade. The decision to launch on that particular moonless night in May came largely because too many American officials had been briefed on the plan. KIDS HOVER CAR PATCHOn Monday, the two partners attempted to patch up relations, agreeing to pursue high-value targets jointly. Pakistan's government has since condemned the action, and threatened to open fire if U.S. ![]()
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