For years, Western officials believed that the world's most wanted man, with a million price on his head, was hiding in some of the most impenetrable terrain on earth, in Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal belt.
But instead of lurking in a remote cave -- out of reach of intelligence on the ground -- bin Laden was found in relative luxury less than two hours' drive from Islamabad in a town where Pakistan trains some of its finest officers.
An AFP reporter at the scene said the imposing house appears to be a three-storey building surrounded by towering perimeter walls, located in a middle-class neighbourhood of Abbottabad.
"Abbottabad is a garrison city and located near a Pakistani military academy, and people will raise questions how they managed to get there," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a prominent expert on militancy.
Pakistan and the United States said the operation was conducted by US forces, and although Pakistani military were out in force in Abbottabad on Monday one o