Osama Bin Laden was killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan on Sunday.
Reports of the death of the leader of Al Qa'eda came in overnight and were then confirmed by President Obama in an announcement: "“For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda."
Obama continued, "But his death does not mark the end of our effort. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
On Friday, Obama --- acting on intelligence that had been developing since last August --- authorised a secret US operation to attack Bin Laden's compound. Obama that the operation was carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani officials, but a senior US official said the Pakistanis had not been informed of the operation in advance.