WHAT A TWIST!

ISLAMABAD — One of Osama bin Laden’s young daughters allegedly told authorities that U.S. forces captured her father alive first, and then killed him in the first few minutes of Sunday’s raid on his compound, senior Pakistani security sources told NBC News.
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The NBC sources confirmed an earlier Al Arabiya report that the girl told Pakistani investigators that commandos had captured her father alive and shot him to death in front of the family in the compound. The daughter was part of a group taken away after the raid, the report said. According to an NBC News translation of a broadcast report on the network, a reporter said U.S. forces killed bin Laden ten minutes after they located him.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official, who declined to be identified, earlier told Reuters that the daughter, aged 12 or 13, was one of the people who had confirmed that the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks had been killed by U.S. commandos.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney described the chaotic raid, saying the U.S. team “methodically cleared the compound, moving from room to room in an operation lasting nearly 40 minutes,” noting that “they were engaged in a firefight throughout the operation.” A woman offered to sacrifice her life and tried to shield bin Laden, senior Pakistani officials told NBC on Wednesday.
Officials revealed the allegation as questions swirled in Washington about whether Pakistan was complicit in protecting the mastermind of those attacks. Several Republicans and Democrats in Congress have raised the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan. The Pakistani government has denied suggestions that its security forces knew anything about bin Laden’s hideout or failed to spot suspicious signs in a city with a heavy military presence.
In a closed-door briefing for lawmakers Tuesday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said, “Pakistan was involved or incompetent,” a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Pakistan criticized the American raid in its sovereign territory as “unauthorized unilateral action.”
While tensions grew, efforts also were apparent to contain the damage in an important if checkered relationship. The Obama administration pushed back against the talk of punishing Pakistan. So did Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who said, “Having a robust partnership with Pakistan is critical to breaking the back of al-Qaida and the rest of them.”
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As for the the residents of the compound taken away after the raid — one of bin Laden’s wives and a number of children — authorities will be interrogated and then they will probably be turned over to their countries of origin, and not the United States, in accordance with Pakistani law, the senior Pakistani intelligence official quoted by Reuters said.
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The official said the wife and children were left behind after an American transport helicopter, possibly an MH-60 Sea Hawk, was abandoned because of mechanical problems.
He said there was not enough room for the group on the other helicopters, which were transporting bin Laden’s body, other male captives and the commandos.
As for the whereabouts of the surviving family members, “They are all in safe hands and being looked after in accordance with law,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Some of them needing medical care are under treatment in the best possible facilities. As per policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin.”
Citing a Pakistani security source, Al Arabiya reported that the family members had been taken by helicopter to a military hospital in the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.
Family members inside compound
As Navy SEALs swept through the compound early Monday, they handcuffed those they encountered with plastic zip ties and pressed on in pursuit of bin Laden. After killing the terror leader, his son and two others, they doubled back to move nine women and 23 children away from the compound, according to U.S. officials.
The number of women and children taken from the compound has varied. The New York Times reported the group comprised of nine children ranging in age from two to 12, and three women. The BBC, citing a Pakistani intelligence official, said between 17 and 18 people were present at the time of the attack, and that one of bin Laden’s wives, a daughter and eight or nine other children remained at the location, while U.S. forces took one other survivor — possibly one of bin
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Carney said in Tuesday’s briefing that three families lived in the complex: the bin Laden family, one family on the first floor of the same building and another in a second building.
During the operation, one team cleared bin Laden’s house, working its way from the first to the third floor, and a second team cleared the other building.
“On the first floor of bin Laden’s building, two al-Qaida couriers were killed, along with a woman who was killed in crossfire,” Carney said. “Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floor of the building. There was concern that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation — operation rather, and, indeed, he did resist.
“In the room with bin Laden, a woman — bin Laden’s — a woman, rather, bin Laden’s wife, rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.”
Asked by a reporter how bin Laden resisted if he was unarmed, Carney said, “I think resistance does not require a firearm. But the information I gave you is what I can tell you about it. I’m sure more details will be provided as they come available and we are able to release them.”
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He said that after the operation’s completion, “the noncombatants were moved to a safe location” and bin Laden’s body taken to the USS Carl Vinson; from there he was buried at sea.
Neighbors rarely saw occupants
Neighbors said they knew little about those inside in the compound but bin Laden apparently depended on two men who would routinely emerge to run errands or to a neighborhood gathering, such as a funeral. There were conflicting details about the men’s identities. Several people said they were known as Tariq and Arshad Khan and had identified themselves as cousins from elsewhere in northwestern Pakistan. Others gave different names and believed they were brothers.
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Arshad was the older of the two, and both spoke multiple languages, including Pashto and Urdu, which are common here, residents said.
The New York Times, citing a neighbor living 100 yards away from the bin Laden compound, reported that the Khans were in their 30s, married and had young children. Arshad had three and Tariq had four, the unnamed woman told the newspaper.
Those who live nearby said the people in bin Laden’s compound rarely strayed outside. Most were unaware that foreigners — bin Laden and his family are Arabs — were living there.
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As in other Pakistani towns, hotels in Abbottabad are supposed to report the presence of foreigners to the police, as are real estate agents. Abbottabad police chief Mohammed Naeem said the police followed the procedures but “human error cannot be avoided.”