On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot several times and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six). The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a CIA-led operation with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid. In addition to SEAL Team Six, participating units under JSOC included the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), also known as the "Night Stalkers," and operators from the CIA's Special Activities Division, which recruits heavily from former JSOC Special Mission Units. The operation's success ended a nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden, who was wanted for masterminding the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The raid, approved by then President Barack Obama and involving two dozen Navy SEALs in two Black Hawk helicopters, was launched from Afghanistan, where U.S. forces were based, about 120 miles (190 km) away. The raid was 40 minutes long and bin Laden was killed shortly before 1:00 a.m. PKT (20:00 UTC, May 1). Three other men, including one of bin Laden's sons, and a woman in the compound were also killed. After the raid, U.S. forces returned to Afghanistan with bin Laden's body for identification and then flew over 850 miles (1,370 km) to the Arabian Sea, where he was buried in accordance with Islamic tradition within 24 hours of his death.Al-Qaeda confirmed bin Laden's death on May 6 through posts made on militant websites and vowed to avenge his killing. Other Pakistani militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also vowed retaliation against the U.S. and against Pakistan for not preventing the operation. The raid was supported by over 90% of the American public, was welcomed by the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and a large number of governments, but was condemned by others, including two-thirds of the Pakistani public. Legal and ethical aspects of the killing, such as the failure to capture him alive despite him being unarmed, were questioned by others, including Amnesty International. Also controversial was the decision not to publish any photographic or DNA evidence of bin Laden's death. There was also controversy in Pakistan as to how the country's defences were breached and the Air Force failed to pick up the American aircraft.After the killing, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani formed a commission led by Senior Justice Javed Iqbal to investigate the circumstances of the attack. The resulting Abbottabad Commission Report revealed the "collective failure" of Pakistani state military and intelligence authorities that enabled bin Laden to hide in Pakistan for nine years and was leaked to Al Jazeera on July 8, 2013.

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