Google Maps Shows Where Osama Bin Laden Died

Google Maps has been updated with a pinpoint for “Osama bin Laden’s Compound” in northern Pakistan.

The terrorist, who was reported dead Sunday night, was killed during a carefully coordinated U.S. military and intelligence operation. The plan to kill bin Laden was put into action at Abbottabad, a city about 75 miles north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

While it’s unlikely the Maps pinpoint is the exact location where bin Laden was found, it does tell us a lot about where he was hiding out. Far from being the cave-ridden rural landscape many had imagined, he was in a beautiful, urban area and was reportedly living in a mansion surrounded by other houses at the time of the raid.

As elated crowds gather around the U.S. to celebrate, many Google Maps and Google Places users are posting “reviews” to the Place page to express their own elation. At the time of this writing, 233 reviews had been posted. The sentiments range from macabre satisfaction to bad puns to simply, “OSAMA IS DEAD! USA! USA!”

The town where bin Laden died is in the Orash Valley and is something of a center of tourism. Images of the area, some of which you can see below, show its educational institutions and beautiful scenery.

While bin Laden was captured with the support of Pakistani authorities, we don’t yet know what effects this operation and its result may have on U.S.-Pakistan relations.