Obama announces Osama bin Laden killed in US led operation

US President Barack Obama announced the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden on Sunday night, in a nine-minute address to the American people from the White House.

He said the man believed to have inspired the attacks on New York and Washington in September, 2001, had been killed in a firefight with US forces at a house in Abbottabad, about 100 km from the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.

Hundreds of Americans gathered outside the White House in Washington, DC to celebrate on Sunday night, following the announcement by US President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaida, had been killed.

Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States.

The jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House and chanted in unison "USA USA" as word spread of bin Laden''s death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.

Dozens of New Yorkers and tourists gathered in Times Square, New York, after hearing the news.

A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden''s remains, the president said on Sunday, in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.

Bin Laden was killed in a helicopter raid on a mansion in an area north of the Pakistani capital, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Monday.

Four helicopters launched the attack in the Bilal area of Abbottabad, about 100 kilometres (160 miles) north of Islamabad, said a Pakistani intelligence official.

One of the helicopters crashed after it apparently was hit by fire from the ground, the official said. He gave no word on casualties.

He said the helicopters took off from a Pakistani air base in the north of the country.

The news that bin Laden was killed close to Islamabad will raise questions of how he managed to evade capture and how long he had been there.

Most U.S. intelligence assessments had placed him along the lawless border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.