CIA mocked for 'live tweeting' Osama Bin Laden killing

Washington, May 2: US spy agency Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "live tweeted" the military raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan five years ago, drawing criticism and satire on social media.

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seal commandos on May 2, 2011, when they raided his compound in Abbottabad.

The CIA twitter account said the step-by-step tweets would represent the raid at Bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound "as if it were happening today", ABC News reported.

"The takedown of bin Laden stands as one of the great intelligence successes of all time. History has been a key element of CIA's social media efforts," CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said.

"On the fifth anniversary, it is appropriate to remember the day and honour all those who had a hand in this achievement."

Several of the tweets included diagrams and maps of the compound, providing a rundown of the operation from the moment US President Barack Obama and intelligence officials approved it until the president received confirmation that bin Laden was killed, Al Jazeera reported.

One of the tweets showed an aerial photograph of the compound and a map of the region where it was located in Pakistan and another showed the layout of the premises.

Several social media users criticised the CIA's posts, while others satirised them. Writing on its Twitter account, The Daily Show, a popular US news satire programme, mocked the agency.

"If you live tweet the Bay of Pigs invasion, call us. Otherwise, stop it," it said.

Others lambasted the exercise as an attempt to justify CIA actions, while some argued that the US should have brought bin Laden to trial rather than kill him.

IANS