An official also said bin Laden`s death puts al Qaeda on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, a senior US official said, and President Barack Obama will announce news already sparking jubilation across America, a decade after the September 11 attacks.
The official said on condition of anonymity that bin Laden, America`s most reviled enemy was dead, but did not provide details of how his death occurred, but reports said Washington had the Al-Qaeda leader`s body.
CNN quoted sources as saying that bin Laden was killed in an operation based on actionable US intelligence targeting a mansion outside the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Pakistani intelligence officials also confirmed bin Laden`s death.
"Yes I can confirm that he was killed in a highly sensitive intelligence operation," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The official said he was unable to immediately confirm where, how or when bin Laden was killed.(*)
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