Eleven years ago, on this day in 2011, Pakistan’s Sohaib Athar who tweets using the @ReallyVirtual handle, inadvertently live-tweeted the capture of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64780730286358528?s=20&t=_cEyd79w8zid6u7GEgb8Bg
https://twitter.com/CIA/status/726824007220125696?s=20&t=Pmk4k0BZwhsevpsoSHcARA
Hailed as one the biggest counter-terrorism events in modern times, Sohaib Athar, by live-tweeting became an overnight sensation and was subject of news stories and received thousands of emails following this event.
https://twitter.com/CIA/status/726831307267788801?s=20&t=czBI2sHOMGQuMghiPcbcOQ
Athar’s version could be verified as five years later the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) put out a series of tweets on the same day (May 2) and said that they would tweet about ‘the raid as if it were happening’ on that day. The tweets showed that Athar was on point with every tweet and did live-tweet the capture of Osama.
A look at Athar’s profile gives an idea that the IT consultant, who lives in Abbottabad to avoid the hustle and bustle of the big city, is a casual Twitter user who even posts memes and jokes about himself not getting the blue tick or verified mark from Twitter. His account still remains unverified despite his exploits.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/65015803543695360?s=20&t=0rd9o7qjg66r-JEw8OzUAg
It was May 2 in 2011 when the US army and its special operation unit descended on a compound in Abbottabad and captured Osama Bin Laden. The locals were woken with the sound of helicopters whirring overhead. Athar, who too woke up with the sound of the chopper(s) put out a tweet saying that it was a rare event.
“Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 AM (is a rare event),” was Ather’s first tweet, followed by, “Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter.”
Athar was probably unaware that within 11 minutes of his first tweet, the US special forces found and killed one of the founders of al-Qaeda Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for killing innocents in the US and other places in the name of jihad.
He also was awoken with the huge bang sound and he predicted that ‘it was the beginning of something nasty’. “A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope it’s not the start of something nasty,” Athar tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64783440226168832?s=20&t=IK_gUDOC2hw800T906rBlg
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64796769418088448?s=20&t=cyIXtQ-EAZKWQ6nYF3Rp1Q
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64798882332278785?s=20&t=n9w_xtmoQPwufG3kvXg9Zw
He also muses if the helicopters were Taliban operated and says in another tweet that he has heard of a helicopter being shot down near Abbottabad’s Bilal Town area. A helicopter did crash in Abbottabad, which the CIA confirmed later.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64912440353234944?s=20&t=gmWSrn-_iFBbt_f5rfHPCQ
https://twitter.com/CIA/status/726856277486264321?s=20&t=I08ulAZkdSIQqaDaMkMshA
Those were Bilal’s final tweets at that point of time. It was only in the morning that he realised that he live-tweeted the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden. “Uh oh, now I’m the guy who live blogged the Osama raid without knowing it,” Athar tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/65085855315931136?s=20&t=D0TXgBcsZL0IdIOuyhFymg
Athar quipped the next day that if he knew what he was doing, he would have ‘tweeted wittingly’
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