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Abbottabad, a quiet military town in the Himalayan foothills, housed Osama bin Laden for many years Residents of Abbottabad might be forgiven for feeling confused . When they went to bed, theirs was a tidy, bucolic little place – a town of soldiers and schools, tucked into the foothills of the Himalayas, just a two-hour drive north of Islamabad. When they awoke, it had turned into something dark and notorious: the rumbled hideout of the world’s most wanted man, killed in a hail of gunfire by American special forces soldiers just a few hours earlier . The target was a house that, from the outside, appeared to differ little from the other homes in this well-to-do neighbourhood: two-and three-storey buildings, not exactly mansions, but spacious and well-appointed. Two men stared at the square, three-storey house in a well-to-do suburb, now swarming with soldiers and police, trying hard to make sense of it all. “It couldn’t have been Osama bin Laden,” declared 32-year-old trader Azhar Khan of the neighbour he had never known. “This is a very sensitive place, full of military and intelligence agencies. You can’t live here for years without anyone knowing.” But Naqeeb Khan, an 18-year-old engineering student, had another take. “I believe it. I saw it on CNN this morning. They confirmed it was Osama.” “Yeah, well we’ve heard a lot on television,” shot back Khan. “And it’s not always right.” The house was partially hidden by a red canvas screen that had been hastily erected by Pakistani soldiers – probably to hide the site where an American helicopter reportedly crashed to the ground in still murky circumstances. An armed soldier stood guard on the roof, gripping his weapon. Others surged through the surrounding fields, playing hide-and-seek with journalists they sought to keep at bay. “Please, please, leave,” begged one young colonel, trying to shoo the Guardian away. But it was too late: Abbottabad’s greatest secret was out. Nobody, of course, had ever seen Bin Laden. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have dreamed he was inside,” said one neighbour. But many knew two Pashtun men who owned the house – possibly Bin Laden’s trusted courier and his brother who unwittingly led American spies to their quarry last August. The Pashtuns kept to themselves, people said – burning their own rubbish, sending children to buy food at the shops, attending daily prayers but spurning small talk. Nobody seemed to know their names, or where they came from – some thought Afghanistan, others said Waziristan in the tribal areas. The army might have been more curious, though. Bin Laden’s suburban bolthole was just a few streets away from the Pakistan’s version of Sandhurst, a sprawling military academy complex of training fields and dorms that has been the training ground for the country’s officer corps for 60 years. In a decade of speculation Bin Laden has been reported to be dead, alive, sick and hiding in the sprawling slums of the cities or the perilous badlands of the tribal belt. But few would have suspected a town such as Abbottabad, famed for its tranquillity and tolerance. Schools and small universities line the main Karakoram highway, which climbs through the mountains towards the Chinese borders. As journalists flooded in, boys and girls skipped through the streets, wearing uniforms and carrying schoolbooks. Most residents are from the ethnic Hazara minority and speak Hindko, a language closer to Punjabi than Pashto. It is hundreds of miles from Waziristan in the tribal belt where CIA drone strikes have pummelled dozens of al-Qaida targets in the recent years. People in Abbottabad have been only peripherally affected by the recent turmoil – refugees arrived as the Taliban swept through nearby Swat in 2009; most have since gone home. “Osama – who cares? He’s just a creation of America,” said a mechanic, from under a broken vehicle. “We don’t care about him. Petrol prices are rising, food is more expensive, and our leaders are corrupt. That’s all we care about.” Yet, for those who looked closely enough, there have been hints that the town’s charms had also attracted al-Qaida. The recently released Guantánamo Bay files revealed that Abu Farj al-Libi, a senior Bin Laden lieutenant, moved here in 2003 and lived in the town until his capture two years later. He wasn’t the only one to chose Pakistan’s populated, urban areas, close to army power. In 2003, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the architect of the 9/11 attacks in New York, was captured in the military city of Rawalpindi. In retrospect, it makes sense, but retrospect is always wise. The truth is few in Abbottabad saw this coming. And many hope that life will soon get back to normal. Osama bin Laden al-Qaida Pakistan Global terrorism CIA United States Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk