The Hunt for Bin Laden: Secrets Behind the Abbottabad Operation

The Shadow of Osama Bin Laden Seen on Satellite and the Hunt for the Courier: The Story of the Abbottabad Operation in Netflix Series

It was the beginning of 2011. Almost ten years had passed since one of the biggest attacks on American soil—9/11—but the founder and leader of the banned group Al-Qaeda, who claimed responsibility, Osama bin Laden, still remained out of America’s reach.

But then the situation changed. On May 2, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with other top American officials, were present in the White House Situation Room watching the U.S. operation unfold on Osama bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Now, the Netflix series American Manhunt: The Search for Osama Bin Laden, released on May 14, 2025, attempts to answer the questions: Why did it take the U.S. nearly a decade to capture Osama bin Laden, and what challenges did counterterrorism experts and CIA officers face in the process?

The Netflix series claims that America’s Operation Neptune Spear was so secret that President Obama ordered, "No one in our own government should know about bin Laden's compound."

What’s in the Netflix series American Manhunt: The Search for Osama Bin Laden?

The three-part series begins with the 9/11 attacks and the American response.
The second episode discusses repeated failures and frustration in attempts to capture bin Laden.
The third episode focuses on Operation Neptune Spear, which eventually led to the successful capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.

Former CIA officials and analysts in the series assert that the Battle of Tora Bora right after U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was a golden opportunity to capture bin Laden—but it failed.

Image caption: Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in the 2011 Abbottabad operation.

For years afterward, Americans and officials kept wondering: Where is bin Laden?
CIA analyst Cindy Storer says in the series: "There was concern that Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda members could have fled Afghanistan and crossed into Pakistan or Iran—or taken a flight to hide anywhere."

CIA officials say the hunt for bin Laden began in 1996, but he always managed to escape U.S. operations.

Michael Morell, former CIA officer and daily intelligence briefer to the President, says that after leaving Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda didn’t go into hiding; instead, they began planning more attacks.
U.S. officials feared that new attacks were being planned globally from Al-Qaeda's hideouts.

The second episode describes how bin Laden’s associates were captured in Pakistan and transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention center for interrogation.

CIA officials say that detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed arrested from Rawalpindi, were subjected to physical and psychological torture during interrogation—such as being deprived of sleep for 100 hours. Still, bin Laden’s close aides refused to disclose his location.

Meanwhile, every anniversary of 9/11 brought the same question from Americans: Where is bin Laden, and why hasn’t he been caught yet?

The series shows how even CIA agents and contractors lost their lives in Al-Qaeda attacks.

Operation Neptune Spear

The series claims that U.S. intelligence officials had to change their strategy.
They began analyzing bin Laden’s video messages and investigated how these videos were secretly released.

U.S. authorities were searching for couriers who moved bin Laden’s videos from place to place.

This led to the name "Abu Ahmed" surfacing in 2002.
Former CIA officer Michael Morell claims that when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was asked about Abu Ahmed during interrogation, he responded, "I’ve heard of Abu Ahmed, but he no longer works with Al-Qaeda."

"When he returned to his cell—which we had bugged—he told other Al-Qaeda members not to say anything about the courier... He knew that the courier could lead us to Osama bin Laden."

The series claims it took eight years for American intelligence agencies to find Abu Ahmed.
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta says his phone was tracked to Peshawar in 2010. In one intercepted call, he was heard saying he was "still doing the same work."

The series reveals that the search for Abu Ahmed led American authorities to a compound in Abbottabad, located near the Pakistani military's Kakul Academy. The walls of the large house were between 12 to 18 feet high, and the house had been purchased by Abu Ahmed in 2005. Its balcony was also covered by a wall, which aroused suspicion among American officials.

Leon Panetta says, “It became clear that someone of high value was present there.” He explains that, with the help of Dr. Shakil Afridi in Pakistan, attempts were also made to obtain blood samples from family members.

The series claims that American intelligence officials observed through satellite imagery that an elderly man would walk within the compound. By analyzing the shadow of the person, they estimated his height, which matched Osama bin Laden's height. However, Panetta stated that due to the high walls, a clear image of the man’s face could not be obtained.

Under President Barack Obama’s orders, the U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six was assigned the task of raiding Bin Laden's compound and trained for several months in preparation.

A key point about this operation was that then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden—who later became President—believed the intelligence was weak and that such an operation could impact U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Leon Panetta explains, “We did not have 100% intelligence that Osama was actually there.”

In the series, former White House Counterterrorism Chief John Brennan revealed, “President Obama clearly said we will not inform the Pakistanis,” while Leon Panetta feared the operation could trigger a war between the U.S. and Pakistan.

It’s important to note that after the Abbottabad operation, Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed that U.S. forces did not use any Pakistani base for the mission. Instead, the U.S. helicopters entered Pakistani airspace by exploiting radar blind spots in the mountainous area.

On May 2, SEAL Team Six flew from the U.S. base in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, to Abbottabad. However, one of the two helicopters crashed after hitting the compound wall.

During the operation, the U.S. personnel who killed Bin Laden on the compound’s third floor stated in the series that Bin Laden "did not surrender. He was a threat not only to me but to the entire team. (I decided that) he had to die."

Bin Laden’s body was taken away in one of the helicopters, and the crashed helicopter was destroyed using explosives.

Leon Panetta claims that President Obama was concerned about what to do with Bin Laden’s body. "It was decided that the body would be transferred to an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean. After performing Islamic funeral rites, he would be buried at sea."

Justifying the decision, Leon Panetta said, “So that the body wouldn’t be buried in a place that could later become a shrine.”