Bin Laden's Compound - Updated

Abbottabad, Pakistan

The location of Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad has been identified by local sources. The compound, that is described as having 4m-6m (12ft-18ft) walls and being eight times larger than other homes in the area, is to the south-east of a Pakistan Military Academy. The satellite imagery shown on this Google Map clearly matches photographs of the compound released by the Pentagon (pdf link from ABC).

Abbottbad resident and Twitter user Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) Tweeted what he says was the location of the crashed helicopter in the American attack on the compound. The helicopter is being reported as having crashed because of 'technical failure'.

The New York Times describes the compound as being "a large mansion on the outskirts of the town center, set on an imposing hilltop and ringed by 12-foot-high concrete walls topped with barbed wire."

Big hat-tips to Ogle Earth and the Google Earth Blog.

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Responding to the Floods in Pakistan

Resource Finder

Google's Crisis Response team have released a web page in Urdu and English where you can find information, resources and donation opportunities to help the victims of the Pakistan floods.

Part of the response includes a Resource Finder a tool to help disseminate updated information about health facilities and services in Pakistan. The Resource Finder (again in Urdu or English) is a Google Map that shows the locations of hospitals and clinics. Users can select the type of clinic they wish to view from a drop down menu.

The map includes editable records to help relief workers maintain up-to-date information on the services, doctors, equipment and beds available at neighboring health facilities.

A similar Response Finder is also available for Haiti.

Via: Official Google Blog

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Google Map of US Drone Attacks

U.S. Drone Attacks in Pakistan

This My Map shows the approximate locations of all U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004 on Google Maps. Strikes prior to 2008 are shown with yellow map markers, those in 2008 during the Bush administration are shown with red markers, and strikes during the Obama administration are green.

Most strikes are on Pashtun villages in North and South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border. Clicking on a map marker opens an information window with details of casualties and a link to a source for news of each drone attack.

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