(CNN) -- In the dark of night, U.S. helicopters approached a high-walled compound in Pakistan on a mission to capture or kill one of the world's most notorious terrorist leaders.
Less than 40 minutes later -- early Monday morning in Pakistan -- Osama bin Laden was dead, along with four others inside the complex, and the U.S. forces departed with the slain al Qaeda leader's body to fulfill a vow that originated shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
And as he announced the raid at the White House Sunday night, U.S. President Barack Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda."
HIGH-WALLED COMPOUND = RECINTO AMURALLADO...................................RAID = ASALTO
DEPART = PARTIR........................................................................................ACHIEVEMENT= LOGRO, TRIUNFO
SLAIN = ASESINADO................................................................................. ...DEFEAT = VENCER
FULFILL A VOW = CUMPLIR UNA PROMESA ...One senior administration official called the investigation a "team effort" and a "model of really seamless cooperation" across agencies.
..The compound is in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The city sits in a mountainous region that is not heavily populated. Many of the residents are army personnel.
TEAM EFFORT = ESFUERZO DE EQUIPO
SEAMLESS = PERFECTO
HEAVILY POPULATED = DENSAMENTE POBLADA
...After years of intelligence work and months of following a specific lead, they traced a courier linked to bin Laden to the compound in Abbottabad, the officials said.
When first built, the compound was secluded and reachable by only a dirt road, the officials said. In recent years, more residences built up around it, but it remained by far the largest and most heavily secured property in the area, they said.
TRACE = SEGUIR LA PISTA.................................................................REACHABLE = ACCESIBLE
COURIER = CORREO, MENSAJERO......................................................REMAINED BY FAR = PERMANECER CON DIFERENCIA
SECLUDED = APARTADO, AISLADO
...A firefight was under way for most of the 40 minutes that U.S. Special Operations forces were in the compound, as the team encountered resistance from bin Laden and three other men, a senior defense official said.The official said the forces had to fight their way through the first floor of the three-story building, where two adult males lived.
FIREFIGHT = TIROTEO
ENCOUNTER RESISTANCE = ENCONTRAR RESISTENCIA
MALE = VARÓN
...Bin Laden and his family lived on the second and third floors, and they were cleared last, with bin Laden killed in the last five or 10 minutes of the siege, the official said.
One of bin Laden's wives identified his body to U.S. forces after the team made visual identification, the official said.
In the end, all four of the combatants in the compound were dead, along with a woman whom one of the men used as a human shield, the officials said. Sources said bin Laden was shot in the head.
CLEAR = DESPEJAR
SIEGE = SITIO, ATAQUE
HUMAN SHIELD = ESCUDO HUMANO
SHOT = MUERTO DE UN TIRO
...U.S. officials said they used a number of methods to identify the body as bin Laden... Another U.S. official told CNN that bin Laden has already been buried at sea. His body was handled in the Islamic tradition, said the official...
