Bin Laden's House Demolished by Pakistan

The short version: On February 25, 2012, Pakistani authorities brought in heavy equipment and began tearing down the three-story compound in Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs the previous May. The work was carried out behind a security cordon, with no public notice beforehand.

Why this building mattered

The compound sat less than a mile from Pakistan's military academy in Abbottabad, a garrison town. That an internationally wanted man lived there for years, steps from the army's doorstep, had been a painful fact for Pakistan's establishment ever since the May 2011 raid — fueling questions, at home and abroad, about who knew what and when.

What the demolition accomplished

In practical terms, the demolition did two things:

• Removed a flashpoint. The compound had started drawing curious visitors, and authorities were reportedly uneasy about it becoming either a shrine for sympathizers or a permanent monument to embarrassment.
• Reclaimed the narrative, at least symbolically. Taking it down was the kind of decisive gesture that says: this chapter is closed.

Whether it actually closed the chapter is another matter. The questions the compound raised about Pakistan's intelligence apparatus survived the building easily enough — concrete is easier to knock down than suspicion.

From the archive: this piece was originally published February 25, 2012, and has been refreshed for clarity.

Sources

• Demolition of Osama bin Laden's Compound Begins — VOA News / GlobalSecurity
• Bin Laden hideout reduced to rubble — Express.co.uk