CIA releases massive new tranche of materials seized in 2011 bin Laden raid
WASHINGTON DC: The CIA has released hundreds of thousands of new documents, images, and computer files recovered during the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.
The newly-available material provides invaluable insights into the terrorist organization that struck America on September 11, 2001.
A computer recovered in the 2011 US special forces operation that killed Osama bin Laden contains a video collection that includes kids’ cartoons, several Hollywood movies and three documentaries about himself.
The list of the videos was included in the release on Wednesday by the US Central Intelligence Agency of nearly 470,000 files found on the computer seized in the May 2, 2011, US raid on the al Qaeda founder’s hideout in Abbottabad.
It is the fourth tranche of materials taken from the walled compound where bin Laden and his family lived to be made public by the US government since May 2015.
Materials that still have not been released are being withheld because they could harm national security, are blank, corrupted or duplicate files, are pornographic or are protected by copyright, said a CIA statement.
The copyright-protected materials include more than two dozen videos and two other documentaries about the al Qaeda leader, the CIA said.
“Today’s release of recovered al-Qaeda letters, videos, audio files and other materials provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization,” said CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
“CIA will continue to seek opportunities to share information with the American people consistent with our obligation to protect national security.”
They include bin Laden’s personal journal and 18,000 document files, about 79,000 audio and image files and more than 10,000 video files, the CIA said.
The CIA said that the materials, like those released in the past, provide insights into the origins of the differences between al Qaeda and Islamic State, disagreements within al Qaeda and its allies, and the problems al Qaeda faced at the time of bin Laden’s death.
The files also provide information regarding the al Qaeda network inside Pakistan, and a meticulous look into the trough of documents might shed light on previously unknown aspects of bin Laden’s Pakistani-based network.
The released material details al Qaeda’s history in Iraq as well, and could potentially provide valuable insight into the insurgency militants raged against the allied forces after the invasion, specially the rise of Islamic State and subsequent decline of al Qaeda from the region.
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