13 years ago, on May 2, 2011, when a Pakistani man began sending out live tweets detailing a mysterious blast, shaking windows and a helicopter hovering about Abbottabad, he had no idea he was documenting the US military attack that took down al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant, became an overnight sensation and was the subject of news stories after he inadvertently live-blogged one the biggest events in history: the US military operation that killed notorious terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. In the days that followed, he’d become “the man who live-tweeted Osama’s death”.
It all began on the intervening night of May 1 and 2, 2011, when the US military raided a compound in Abbottabad and killed Bin Laden. Mr Athar, whose Twitter handle is ReallyVirtual, first tweeted, “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 AM (is a rare event).” In the next tweet, tongue in cheek and clearly sleepless in Abbottabad, he said, “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
The next tweet from the IT consultant recorded what seemed like the beginning of action. “A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope it’s not the start of something nasty,” he tweeted.
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
In the middle of the night, Mr Athar still did not know that he would be all the buzz the next morning. Intrigued and puzzled, he exchanged tweets and instant messages with people in Abbottabad and beyond about the mysterious events. They talked of drones and terrorists, UFOs and spies.
News that something unusual was happening in Abbottabad was also spreading. At one point, the IT consultant even entertained the idea that the helicopter might be Taliban-operated. He even mentioned hearing reports of a helicopter crash near Abbottabad’s Bilal Town area – a crash later confirmed by the CIA.
Since taliban (probably) don’t have helicpoters, and since they’re saying it was not “ours”, so must be a complicated situation #abbottabad
— Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011
Mr Athar stayed up until 4 am that night, trading theories about what was happening. However, it wasn’t until morning dawned that he pieced together the puzzle. After seeing some tweets and then a televised address by then-US President Barack Obama, Mr Athar knew his hideaway was a big part of the history that had been made in the middle of the night. He realised that he had, through a handful of late-night tweets, inadvertently documented the capture and demise of Osama bin Laden.
“Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it,” he tweeted. Mr Athar quipped the next day that if he knew what he was doing, he would have “tweeted wittingly”.
According to his social media bio, Mr Athar is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, but is “taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops”.
