IT IS CODE NAMED OPERATION - OPERATION GERONIMO,THE OPERATION WAS AUTHORISED BY PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA & CARRIED OUT A TEAM OF US NAVY ,SEAL 6,FROM  NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE DEVELOPMENT GROUP UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE JOINT SPECIAL OPERATION COMMAND ,IN CONJUNCTION WITH US INTELLIGENCE ON MAY1,2011.

LAUNCHED FROM AFGHANISTAN ,THE RAID TOOK PLACE AT A SAFE HOUSE IN BILAL TOWN,ABOTTABAD ,PAKISTAN.

AFTER THE RAID ,US FORCES TOOK THE BODY OF OSAMA BIN LADEN TO AFGHANISTAN FOR IDENTIFICATION ,THEN BURIED IT AT SEA WITHIN 24 HOURS OF HIS DEATH.

 OBJECTIVE OF THE OPERATION WAS TO CAPTURE /ELIMINATE A HIGH VALUE TARGET(BIN LADEN) WITH MINIMUM COLLECTED DAMAGE.

AFTER AN INTELLIGENCE GATHERING EFFORT ON THE COURIER `S PAKISTAN COMPOUND THAT BEGAN FROM SEPT 2010,PRESIDENT OBAMA MET WITH NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISERS ON 14 MARCH,2011 TO CREATE A PLAN.

SO MANY MULTIPLE COURSES OF ACTION WAS PRESENTED BY US OFFICIALS TO OBAMA IN MARCH & REFINED OVER THE COURSE OF NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS.

1ST APPROACH CONSIDERED BY US OFFICIALS WAS TO BOMB THE HOUSE USING B-2 SPIRIT STEALTH BOMBERS ,WHICH COULD DROP 32(2000 POUND) JOINT ATTACK MUNITIONS BUT OBAMA REJECTED THE PLAN,HOWEVER OPTING FOR RAID THAT WOULD PROVIDE DEFINITE PROOF THAT BIN LADEN WAS INSIDE  & LIMIT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES.

2ND APPROACH WAS A JOINT RAID WITH PAKISTAN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES WHICH COULD BE TOLD ABOUT THE MISSION ,HOURS BEFORE THE LAUNCH.

DEPLOYING DRONES WAS APPARENTLY NOT A FEASIBLE APPROACH ,IN PART BECAUSE OF LIMITED FIREPOWER AND IN PART BECAUSE THE COMPOUND `S LOC WAS WITHIN PAKISTAN AIR DEFENCE INTERCEPT ZONE FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.

THE COMMANDO LED COA HAS MULTIPLE RISKS INCLUDING FACT THAT THE EXTENSIVE PREPARATION AND TRIGERING NECCESORY TO PULL IT OFF PROVIDED GREATER CHANCES TO LAEK OUT OVER THE ENSUING MONTHS.

ON APRIL 29,2011,OBAMA CONFERRED WITH BRENNAN,THOMAS E. DONILAN AND OTHERNATIONAL SECURITY ADVISORS AND GAVE THE FINAL ORDER TO RAID.

HOWEVER THE RAID PLANNED FOR THAT DAY WAS POSTPONED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DAY DUE TOCLOUDY WEATHER.

 THE RAID WAS CARRIED OUT BY 24 HELICOPTER BORNE US NAVY SEALs OF JOINT SPECIAL OPERATION COMMAND.

THEY OPERATED IN TWO TEAMS OF 12 EACH,ACCORDINGLY  A TOTAL OF 79 COMMANDOS  AND A DOG WERE INVOLVED IN THE RAID.

SEALs FLEW TO THE PAKISTAN FROM THE STAGING BASE IN JALALABAD,AFGHANISTAN AFTER ORIGINATING AT BAGRAM AIR BASE.

THE OPERATORS WERE ARMED WITH M-4 ASSAULT RIFLES,NIGHT VISION GOGGLES & HAND-GUNS.

THEY USED TWO MODIFIED BLACK-HAWK HELICOPTERS AND 2 CHINOOKS FOR BACK-UPS.

THEY ARE STEALTH VERSION OF HELICOPTERS THAT ALLOWED IT TO FLY MORE QUIETLY AND WHILE BEING HARDER TO DETECTED ON  RADAR.THE RAID WAS SCHEDULED TO ATTACK ON MID NIGHT.

HELICOPTERS USED HILLY TERRAIN NAP OF THE EARTH TECHNIQUES TO REACH THE COMPOUND WITHOUT APPEARING ON RADAR AND ALERTING PAKISTAN MILLITARY.

ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN THE SEALs AND THE RESIDENTS TOOK PLACE IN THE GUEST HOUSE, IN  THE MAIN BUILDING ON THE 1ST FLOOR WHERE 2 ADULTS MALE LIVED  AND 2ND AND 3RD FLOOR WHERE OSAMA LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY .

IN ADDITION TO OSAMA ,3 OTHER MEN(HIS ADULT SONS,COURIER AND COURIER`S WIFE)

THE ONLY FIREFIGHT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE FIRST TEAM OF DEVGRU SEAL AND COURIER ,WHO LIVED INT HE GUEST HOUSE .THE COURIER`S RELATIVE AND OSAMA`S SON WERE BOTH KILLED IN THE MAIN HOUSE BY 2ND TEAM.ACCORDINGLY OSAMA`S 5TH WIFE WAS ONE OF THEINJURED WOMAN,WHEN SEALS ENTERED THE ROOM IN WHICH OSAMA WAS HIDING WITH HIS WIFE.

THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE OSAMA  BIN LADEN LASTED ONLY SECONDS AND TOOK PLACE DURING THE LAST 5 OR 10 MIN. OF THE RAID.

OSAMA WAS KILLED BY AT LEAST ONE OR POSSIBLY 2 BULLETS,ONE OF WHICH STRUCK ON HISLEFT SIDE OF HIS HEAD AND ANOTHER SHOT WAS WIDELY REPORTED TO BE A BULLET TO THE CHEST.

THE RAID WAS INTENDED TO TAKE 30 MIN. ALL TOLD THAT  THE TIME BETWEEN  THE TEAMS ENTRY AND EXIT FROM COMPOUND WAS 38 MIN.

TIME IN THE COMPOUND WAS SPENT NEUTRALIZING DEFENDERS ,MOVING CAREFULLY THROUGH THE COMPOUND ,ROOM TO ROOM,FLOOR TO FLOOR SECURING WOMEN AND CHILDREN CLEARING WEAPONS STASHES AND BARRICADES,INCLUDING A FALSE DOOR ,3 AK-47 AND 2 PISTOLS AND SEARCHING THE COMPOUND FOR INFORMATION,RECOVERED COMPUTER HARD DRIVES,DOCUMENTS,DVDS,THUMB DRIVES AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTS FROM COMPOUND FOR LATER ANALYSIS.

OPERATION GERONIMO WAS THE CLASSICAL OPERATION CONDUCTED WITH THE SURGICAL .PRECESION DEEP INTO THE PAKISTANI TERRITORY WITH MINIMUM COLLATERAL DAMAGE .