No bin Laden, but photos of raid's carnage surface

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan — Photos taken by a Pakistani security official inside Osama bin Laden's hideout provide the most graphic images — and perhaps the only ones that ever will be made public — of the chaos that engulfed the three-story house in the moments before a U.S. Special Forces team killed the terrorist leader with gunfire to the head.

The photos don't include images of bin Laden, whose body had been hauled from the house and carried off by a U.S. helicopter perhaps as much as a half-hour before Pakistani troops arrived.

But they do show the bodies of three other men sprawled on a blood-soaked floor and hint at the grisly nature of bin Laden's wounds — one of the reasons the White House announced Wednesday that it wouldn't release photos taken of the dead bin Laden.

In the Pakistani security official's images, blood oozes from the dead men's noses, ears and mouths. The pictures show no weapons, though what appears to be a plastic toy gun can be seen underneath one man, who is lying near what seem to be computer cords. The U.S. team reportedly carried off a computer, hard drives and other electronic equipment.

One of the men, a thin man with a short beard, looks as if he could be Arab. The other two, bulkier and with mustaches, appear more likely to be Pakistani. Time stamps on two photos indicate they were taken at around 2:30 a.m. Monday, about an hour after the raid, which began at 12:45 a.m., had ended.

The Pakistani security official sold the photographs to the Reuters news agency, which distributed them to clients.

U.S. officials have said three men, in addition to bin Laden, were killed in the raid — two men who likely were al-Qaida couriers and one of bin Laden's sons. Locals have said they were aware only of two men at the house, who identified themselves as Tariq and Arshad Khan.

New clues also emerged about how bin Laden might have escaped detection during his stay at the house, which U.S. officials said was built specifically to house him six years ago.

According to a Pakistani television channel, Express News, the house has 10 bedrooms, each with a kitchen and a bathroom. That arrangement would have allowed residents and guests to live independently of one another, without having to congregate even for meals. Around 20 people lived in the house, including seven or more children, reports indicate.

Outside, there were around 100 chickens in cages and two cows. Vegetables were being grown in the garden. A garage contained a Suzuki Potohar jeep and a small Suzuki van — both popular, inexpensive vehicles in Pakistan. Tracking the movement of the van is believed to have originally led U.S. intelligence to the house.

Pakistani officials have refused to allow reporters to enter the compound where bin Laden died. Express News said it had gained entry and offered a detailed description of the layout.

Unusually for Pakistan, the house had a central heating system, according to the television channel. That would be a big luxury in Abbottabad, set in the Himalayan foothills and cold in winter.

Still, a local real-estate professional said U.S. officials wildly overestimated the value of the property when they described it as a $1 million mansion. The rather shabby home, 3,000 square feet in size but with peeling paint and on a little less than one acre, has a value of probably no more than 20 million rupees, or about $235,000 in U.S. currency.

"It's not an impressive house. The build quality doesn't look top-grade, and it isn't in the best part of town," said Mohammad Anwar, who runs the Property Point agency in Abbottabad, known chiefly for housing the Pakistan Military Academy and also the headquarters of two army regiments. "We're assessing it on the ground, not from a satellite."

It's unclear what Pakistani officials will do with the house, which could become a pilgrimage site for extremists. For now, the home has become an instant local tourist attraction.

"It's such a big deal. They claim bin Laden was living here for five years, so we wanted to see," said Bilal Khan, 42, who had come with his sister and five children. "It's so strange that he would leave the mountains of Afghanistan and choose to live in the lap of the Pakistan military."

There was also plenty of skepticism.

"No one believes that Osama bin Laden could have lived here. Show us the proof," said Saifoor Khan, 51. "It is all just a Hollywood picture."