Updated: Confirmed Map, Satellite Imagery, and CIA Diagram of Bin Laden's Compound in Abbottabad (Bilal Town), Pakistan

(Note: in the hours following confirmation of bin Laden's death various maps purporting the location of the bin Laden compound were circulated by the mainstream media. In the interest of maintaining the chronology of these releases, and to highlight some of the astute comments made on this post, I've kept the two inaccurate map sets in the order they were circulated. The final, accurate satellite image from 2010, along with the CIA diagram of the compound, can be found at the bottom of this post.)

Osama bin Laden was killed today (unconfirmed death photo here, WARNING: graphic) about 100 kilometers outside Pakistan's capital of Islamabad. The op was carried out by the Special Forces 'legendary' (in both the literal and figurative sense) Seal Team Six.

The Location

Bin Laden was located in the relatively posh part of Abbottabad, Pakistan called Bilal Town. The compound itself was located a short distance from the Pakistani military academy (the "West Point or Sandhurst of Pakistan" as it's being characterized).

The Compound

His five-to-six year old property, believed to have been purpose built to hide the ultimate 'High Value Target' (HVT), was three stories tall and approximately eight times larger than any other nearby dwelling. Other key details:

• 12-to-18-foot walls, topped with barbed wire
• Internal walls sectioned off different areas of the compound
• Access was restricted by two security gates
• Closed-circuit cameras positioned around the property
  

Yet bin Laden's "mansion", as it has been characterized, did not have a phone line or internet. The couriers, Afghans brothers named Arshad and Tariq who were also gunned down by ST6, did not report any income and had no visible source of wealth. They also burned all their own trash. Neighbors also reported that the women who were living inside the house spoke in Arabic and not the local dialect.

Assessing Bin Laden's Hideout Strategy & What Did Pakistan Know?

Bin Laden's choice to hide near Pakistani military installations and in a residential community of retired Pakistani officers strikes me as both intriguing and suspicious. Less wise, perhaps, were some of the activities noted above, like burning the trash and not having a phone or internet line.

In short, Bin Laden stopped just short of hiding in veritable plain view. Did his failure to go all the way here do him in? One thing we do know is that the U.S. was only able to locate bin Laden by trailing his courier back to the compound in August 2010, and the whole reason bin Laden had to employ the services of a courier was due to his aversion to phones and the internet.

This location at least gave bin Laden some chance as the first assassination option considered by President Obama, employing B-2 Stealth Bombers, was abandoned due in part to the likelihood of collateral damage.

Bin Laden apparently lived in this compound for the last 5-6 years. This raises very important questions about how much Pakistan, or elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence service, knew about the whereabouts of bin Laden. The U.S. has sent billions of dollars to Pakistan over the past several years to help find and kill people like bin Laden.

Was bin Laden's thinking on where to locate influenced by his correct calculation that the U.S. was unlikely to drop a bomb or conduct a Predator drone strike on this particular location? In turn, was bin Laden expecting a tip from Pakistani intelligence should any planned U.S. Special Forces assault to be attempted?

The Map, Satellite Imagery, & Compound Diagram

From the below maps, sourced from The Atlantic, you can see that it was located very close to a police station.

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And below is the pinned version marking bin Laden's compound (B) and the nearby police station (A).

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Update 1: As a commenter pointed out the exact location of the compound appears to be unclear. Here are the satellite imagery of the compound's surrounding area and closeup from the above Google maps sourced from The Atlantic.

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Update 2: Here's a second Google Map with corresponding satellite imagery of the compound, sourced from the Huffington Post. This location is in nearby Bilal Town, a newer development a couple miles from Abbottabad:

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Update 3: As an astute commenter pointed out, based on an evaluation of these compound photos (which include a daylight image of the scuttled MH-60 Seahawk Helicopter; nighttime footage of the burning wreck here) these previously reported locations are not correct.

Below are the maps for the now CIA confirmed location of bin Laden's compound:

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The following two satellite images appear to be circa 2004-2005.

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This satellite shot is from 2010 and shows some of the other dwellings that sprouted up around bin Laden since 2004-2005 that are clearly visible in recent compound photos.

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And here is the diagram, complete with dimensions and other pertinent op information, that the CIA just released of the actual compound.

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