Bin Laden hideout 'razed to the ground'

Former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad demolished.

ABBOTABAD: Bulldozers on Monday finished demolishing the house where Osama bin Laden lived for at least five years until he was killed by US special forces last May, an AFP reporter said.

Only the wall of the compound remained intact, surrounding the debris of the three-storey building where the al Qaeda leader hid in the garrison town of Abbottabad and a security official confirmed the demolition had been completed.

Security forces guarding the compound refused to let anyone inside.

"The demolition has been completed, the three story building was razed to the ground," a security official told AFP.

"We have been ordered to be deployed here until further instructions. The outer wall will remain intact for the moment and we don't know the plan for the future. First we will remove the debris," the official added.

Bulldozers began the demolition work late Saturday in Abbottabad's Bilal Town suburb, where the compound has been under the control of Pakistani security forces since the Americans ended their covert operation on May 2.