President Obama announced to the world Sunday, May 1st, 2011 that the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the London transit bombings, the USS Cole bombings of 2000, and leader of al-Qaeda is dead.
After a 40-minute firefight in Abbottabad, Pakistan, according to the New York Times, Osama bin Laden was killed and recovered by U.S. Forces. On Monday May 2, the body was disposed of in the Arabic Ocean and given a proper Arabic burial.
Facts about Osama bin Laden:
- Born to a wealthy family, bin Laden’s father owned a successful construction company and was granted a large inheritance after his fathers death.
- One of 50 children
- Founded al-Qaeda in 1988 and has been linked to dozens of terrorist attacks across the globe
- Placed on America’s Most Wanted at #1 with a $25 million bounty placed on his head — dead or alive; that was later raised to $50 million
- Has been the primary target of U.S. military forces spanning three U.S. presidencies
Over the past two decades, bin Laden and his followers have been responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent lives and plots to undermine US and allied forces in stopping terror; here are some events we found significant:
