Osama bin Laden Building Mapping Photos revealed on Google Earth

It took nearly a decade for United States intelligence to track down Osama bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Since late last night when President Barack Obama announced the terrorist’s death, the Internet has been buzzing with attempts by amateur-spooks to pinpoint the compound’s location.

By this morning, several sites had declared “mission accomplished,” and posted maps and even satellite images of the former bin Laden compound.

They were, however, wrong.

For example, here’s an early attempt on Google Maps:

Figure 1, Google Maps

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Next, several people thought they had the goods with this compound:

Figure 2, Google Earth

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Then there was this image, showing two compounds.

Figure 3, Google Earth, double compounds.

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Finally, the CIA released information indicating the actual location of the compound.

Figure 4, Google Earth, showing the compound (outlined in red).

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The compound was allegedly built in 2005. Here’s a satellite photo of the same area, taken in 2001.

Figure 5, Google Earth, 2001.

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The compound’s location relative to other landmarks in Abbottabad, Pakistan (30 miles north of the capital, Islamabad):

Figure 6, Google Earth.

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CIA artist’s rendering of the compound layout.