ISLAMABAD, May 2 – Pakistani television stations on Monday broadcast what they described as unconfirmed images of Osama bin Laden\’s bloodied face after the United States said he had been killed.
"The picture of Osama bin Laden\’s dead body has been released. It is unverified," said the commentator on Pakistan\’s largest TV network, Geo.
Other channels also showed the image of a face, which sported a bushy and black beard without any visible traces of the white or grey detected in the most recent video footage of bin Laden when he was alive.
There were extensive blood stains on the forehead and left temple. The right eye was shut but the whites of the left eye were visible.
The hair was mangled and the mouth was slightly open with teeth showing.
Television also broadcast footage of flames rising from a compound in Abbottabad overnight and footage after daybreak of armed Pakistani forces standing guard at the building where bin Laden was reportedly killed.
The compound is in Bilal, in the suburbs of Abbottabad, which is about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
One local resident told AFP that he heard helicopters circling overhead before heavy gunfire erupted between midnight Sunday (1900 GMT) and 1:00 am on Monday.
"People were sleeping. I heard helicopters roaring in the sky," the man told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was worried about security.
"I woke up and then heavy firing started. It was severe. It continued for quite some time, then I heard a heavy explosion. It was huge. People woke up and came out of their houses. We didn\’t know what is going on."
"We heard ambulance sirens and security people shouting. We saw flames coming out of one place. Everybody is scared. I am afraid."
"Today I heard from the TV about Osama\’s death. I haven\’t sent my children to school. Police and other security people have cordoned off the whole area and we are not allowed to go out," the local resident added.
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