America's war with al-Qaida will not stop with the death of its leader Osama bin Laden, the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said, telling the terrorist network: "You cannot wait us out, you cannot defeat us."
Bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, was killed in a helicopter raid by US special forces on a fortified compound in a well-off suburb of Islamabad around 1am local time on Monday. The al-Qaida leader resisted arrest and was killed by a gunshot to the head, US officials said. A US national security official said the special forces team had orders to kill rather than capture the fugitive.
He was buried at sea shortly afterwards, the US said, in part to conform to Islamic demands for burial within 24 hours, in part to avoid his grave site becoming a shrine.
"There are some who doubted that this day would ever come," Clinton said in a defiant address. "[But] the fight continues and we will never waiver."
She thanked US armed forces for "tirelessly and relentlessly" working to bring Bin Laden to justice, hailing a "broad, deep and very impressive effort".
Jubilant crowds gathered outside the White House and at Ground Zero in New York following the announcement of his death, after a decade-long manhunt, chanting "USA! USA!"
But the fact that the terrorist was found not in a cave in the wild tribal regions of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but in a conspicuously fortified compound close to the Pakistani capital, represents a considerable embarrassment for the Pakistan government. The compound, in the comfortable garrison town of Abbottabad, is less than a mile from the Pakistan military's principal training academy.
"When we saw the compound, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior US administration official said. The building, about eight times the size of other nearby houses, had walls 4-6m high topped with barbed wire.
US officials said the Pakistan government was not informed in advance of the raid, and that President Asif Ali Zardari had been informed in a telephone call from Obama once it was completed.
Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's top opposition leader, told the Guardian: "It is very worrying that after 10 years this man could only be captured in an operation that was kept secret from the Pakistani intelligence service. Just a few weeks ago the Pakistanis were insisting that the US military and intelligence operations should be stopped in Pakistan and their agents should leave the country."
The 40-minute raid reportedly involved elite members of the US Navy Seals Team Six, a top counter-terrorism unit. Three other men, including one of Bin Laden's adult sons, were also killed, along with a woman who had been used as a shield by one of the terrorist leader's associates, according to the officials.
Footage purportedly taken inside the compound after the raid showed bloodstained carpets in one of its bedrooms.
Eyewitnesses said a number of unidentified males were removed from the compound by helicopter, while two women and four children were arrested and driven away in an ambulance.
The al-Qaida leader's death was announced by US President Barack Obama in an address to the nation late on Sunday. Bin Laden had been killed by "a small team of Americans" after a "targeted operation", he said. "On nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida's terror: 'Justice has been done'," he said. The raid had followed an eight-month intelligence operation, Obama said.
His predecessor George W Bush, whose presidency was defined by the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and by his failure to capture or kill Bin Laden, said: "This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: 'No matter how long it takes, justice will be done'."
While the death of Bin Laden has immeasurable symbolic significance, questions have been raised over how significantly his removal will impact on the activities of the network of which, according to experts on Islamist terrorism, he has been no more than a figurehead for some years.
The director of the CIA warned that al-Qaida will "almost certainly" try to avenge his killing. "Though Bin Laden is dead, al-Qaida is not," said Leon Panetta, who personally directed the raid. "The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must – and will – remain vigilant and resolute."
US embassies and military bases around the world have been put on high alert against possible reprisal attacks.
The British foreign secretary William Hague said British embassies had also been advised to adopt heightened security measures "for some time to come".
"This is a very serious blow to al-Qaida but, like any organisation that has suffered a serious blow, they will want to show in some way that they are still able to operate," he said.
David Cameron hailed the death of Bin Laden as a "massive step forward" in the fight against terrorism.
In a statement, the prime minister said: "The news that Osama bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world."
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