The post of Sohaib Athar on Twitter/X redgarding the operation on Osama Bin Laden has gone viral again
Eleven years ago today, Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed by a U.S. Special Operations unit in a covert operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Know about the involvement of Sohaib Athar.
An IT consultant Sohaib Athar living near the residence of Osama Bin Laden inadvertently live-tweeted the event as it unfolded, unaware of its significance. Sohaib Athar, known on Twitter as @ReallyVirtual, became instantly famous after his live tweets unknowingly provided the first glimpse of the U.S. operation to kill Osama Bin Laden.
Who is Pakistani Sohaib Athar who posted on Twitter/X about US operation on Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan and where is he now
46 year old Sohaib Athar is an IT contractor and a graduate of Preston University. He described himself in his Twitter bio as, “An IT consultant taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops.” Athar is now the CEO and co-founder of Auxcube.
Sohaib Athar’s tweet
The story of the man who almost accidentally spoiled the US Army plan to eliminate Osama Bin Laden with a tweet, 13 years ago #Today.
With a couple of software projects on the go, Sohaib Athar was making the most of the late-night calm to get some work done.
As his wife and son… pic.twitter.com/K6uuohmOVq
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 2, 2024
On May 2, 2011, Sohaib Athar tweeted at 1:28 AM after hearing the sound of a helicopter over his two-story house in Abbottabad. He noted, “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 AM (is a rare event).” The noise of the helicopter annoyed him, prompting another tweet: “Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter.”
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
— Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011
Four minutes after his previous tweet, Sohaib Athar posted again, reporting a loud noise: “A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantonment. I hope it’s not the start of something nasty. During this time, Athar was communicating with friends locally. This interaction came as one of the two Black Hawk helicopters, which were carrying US commandos, crashed within Bin Laden’s fortified compound.
Remarkably, everyone on board the helicopter was unharmed. After the operation, the US Navy SEALs destroyed the crashed helicopter using explosives, likely causing the loud bang Athar tweeted about. A few minutes later, Athar tweeted, “Since the Taliban (probably) don’t have helicopters, and since they’re saying it was not ‘ours,’ it must be a complicated situation.”
A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S
— Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011
At 2:40 AM, he provided another update by mentioning that the Abbottabad helicopter/UFO was shot down near the Bilal Town area, and there’s a report of a flash. People are saying it could be a drone.
It was only at 10 AM that morning that the truth about the previous night’s events dawned upon Athar. He tweeted, “Uh oh, now I’m the guy who live-blogged the Osama raid without knowing it.” As the news spread, Athar received a flood of messages and calls from news organizations eager to interview him. Overwhelmed, he tweeted on the evening of May 2, “Bin Laden is dead. I didn’t kill him. Please let me sleep now.”
In a interview, Athar mentioned that many accused him of being a CIA agent. He was even summoned to Islamabad for questioning by a judicial commission that the government had established to investigate the events in Abbottabad. Although Athar was released, he claimed that the head of the commission encouraged him by telling him to “tweet on.”