Abbottabad, May 3: The USD one million Waziristan Haveli, where al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in a razor sharp operation by US special forces, has now become a spot for attraction.
 A day after the world's most wanted terrorists was killed, foreign and local journalists were allowed for the first time to go up to the 20 ft cement walls of the compound where bin Laden had been living.  Osama, his son and at least two other people were killed in the pre-dawn operation yesterday by the commandos of US Navy SEALs in the outskirts of Abbottabad, a main city in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.
 Journalists had been kept away from the double-story compound in Bilal Town, just three kilometres from Abbottabad city, since last morning.  The walls of the compound were covered by barbed wire and the people said it is the biggest compound in the whole town.
 This afternoon, the army sealed the compound and handed over the building to the police. No one was allowed inside the building but journalists took pictures from the rooftops of the nearby houses.
 A large number of curious residents, who did not know what had been happened in the wee hours yesterday, also rushed to the compound.
 The residents said they were terrified when they had heard huge explosions, firing and four helicopters flying over the area in darkness.
 "I woke up as I heard a huge explosion, which smashed windows of our home," a young resident, who did not wish to be identified, said. The compound was completely intact and there were no signs of destruction despite explosions and firing.
 Pieces of the military helicopter crashed during the operation were found scattered outside the compound in the fields.
 There is only a small house outside the bin Laden's compound. Besides that, most of the front area was open.
 Residents told reporters that the security forces have taken away two brothers living in a small house outside the compound.
 They said that the two brothers are poor and peaceful people and their standing crop was getting destroyed as they have no one to look after it.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 3 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 3 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 May 2011 00:00:00 IST