After a decade-long hunt, America’s most wanted man was killed in a daring raid deep inside Pakistan.

On a moonless night in early May 2011, two Black Hawk helicopters slipped silently across the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Aboard them were members of SEAL Team 6, America’s most elite special operations unit. Their mission: to find and kill Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, hidden in a compound deep inside the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

After nearly a decade of manhunts, false leads, and painstaking intelligence work, the hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks was finally coming to an end.

A City Hiding a Fugitive

Abbottabad, a quiet military town nestled in the hills north of Islamabad, seemed an unlikely place for the world’s top fugitive. But in the shadows of high compound walls, bin Laden had been living with his family and loyal couriers. U.S. intelligence had tracked unusual activity to the compound—no internet or phone lines, but regular signals and a mysterious figure known as “the Pacer” who stayed inside the walls.

The intelligence trail led directly to President Barack Obama’s desk. After months of deliberation, he gave the green light for a daring night raid—one that would be carried out without notifying Pakistani authorities.

Forty Minutes in Abbottabad

In the early hours of May 2, 2011 (local time), the SEALs descended on the compound. One helicopter crash-landed inside the walls due to thin air and high temperatures, but the team pressed on. Over the course of 40 tense minutes, the SEALs cleared the buildings, exchanging fire with bin Laden’s couriers and bodyguards.

On the third floor, they found their target. According to official reports, bin Laden resisted capture. He was shot and killed in the brief encounter. Several others died in the raid, including one of his adult sons and two couriers.

Back at the White House, President Obama and his national security team watched the operation unfold in real-time from the Situation Room—a moment captured in now-iconic photographs.

The Man Who Pulled the Trigger

The exact identity of the SEAL who fired the fatal shots remains classified, though over the years, several members of the team have stepped forward claiming credit. Regardless, the mission was a collective triumph for SEAL Team 6 and the intelligence community.

A Burial at Sea

Bin Laden’s body was flown out of Pakistan to a U.S. base in Afghanistan for identification. Using DNA testing and facial recognition, officials confirmed beyond doubt that they had found their man.

In a decision meant to prevent his grave from becoming a rallying point for extremists, the U.S. chose to bury bin Laden at sea. Within 24 hours of his death, his body was washed in accordance with Islamic traditions, wrapped in a white sheet, and released into the North Arabian Sea from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

A Nation Reacts

News of bin Laden’s death broke late on May 1, 2011 (U.S. time), when President Obama addressed the nation in a televised speech. Across America, crowds gathered in front of the White House and at Ground Zero in New York City, chanting “USA! USA!” and waving flags in spontaneous celebration.

Though al-Qaeda would survive bin Laden’s death, the killing marked a symbolic victory in America’s war on terror—a mission promised to the nation nearly ten years earlier.

As President Obama declared that night: “Justice has been done.”