An image that allegedly shows the dead body of Osama bin Laden has been circulating the Internet, but many are claiming it is a hoax and the government is still deciding whether or not to release the actual photos.
Neither U.S. nor Pakistani officials have confirmed the photo, and many media outlets have concluded that it is an altered photo of bin Laden from 2008.
President Barack Obama announced Sunday night during an address to the nation that the world’s most wanted terrorist and September 11, 2001 mastermind was killed during a U.S. helicopter raid of his Pakistani compound.
“Justice has been done,” Obama proclaimed during his speech. He added that the world was safer without bin Laden.
U.S. officials said that bin Laden’s identity was confirmed through multiple means, including a DNA match that used the DNA of several of his family members. They stated that the DNA testing alone offered near 100 percent certainty that bin Laden was shot dead.
The CIA also identified the terrorist through “facial recognition,” which uses technology to match up unique facial characteristics, and by a woman believed to be his wife on site.
Officials said that the al-Qaida leader was shot in the head and killed toward the end of the firefight. Three other men were also killed, one believed to be his son. No Americans were injured during the raid.
The body had been photographed before it was put aboard the USS Carl Vinson and buried at sea. Officials said that traditional Islamic procedures for handing the remains were followed, including the washing of the corpse and placing it in a white sheet.
The actual autopsy photo is described as extremely graphic, and there is no word on whether the image will be released to the public.
With Associated Press