Osama bin Laden killed
In a White House address, President Barack Obama announced that a small US team had carried out "a targeted operation" against a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He said: "After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." The BBC reported that the operation was said to be carried out by US Navy SEALs, that DNA tests later confirmed bin Laden's death, and that he was buried at sea after a Muslim funeral on an aircraft carrier. According to a senior US official quoted by the BBC, three other men and one woman were also killed in the raid.
In a media release on 2 May 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed "this great blow against terrorism". She listed Australians killed in attacks that bin Laden's al Qaeda "conducted, inspired or had links to": 10 on 11 September 2001, 88 in Bali in 2002, one in London and four in Bali in 2005, two in Mumbai in 2008 and three in Jakarta in 2009. She also acknowledged "Pakistan's cooperation in the fight against terrorism".
At a Canberra press conference, Ms Gillard said she hoped the news "comes as some small measure of justice for those who still grieve the loss of their loved ones." She added that "al Qaeda is not finished" and that Australia "will continue the mission in Afghanistan".
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