# Abbottabad

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Abbottabad," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abbottabad/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Pakistani garrison city where Osama bin Laden was found and killed — named for a British major who was Pakistan's first military trainer, home to the Pakistani military's leadership, and in John Kiriakou's judgement the last place bin Laden could have lived unnoticed by the Pakistani state.*

- **Country:** Pakistan
- **Named for:** A British major named Abbott, Pakistan's first military trainer from 1947
- **Character:** A military city, and where the Pakistani military leadership lives
- **Significance:** Where [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden) was found and killed

**Abbottabad** is the Pakistani city where [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden) was found living behind a twenty-foot wall and was killed in 2011.

It takes its name from a British major named Abbott, who was the first military trainer in Pakistan when the country came into existence in 1947.[1] The city that grew around that function is, in Kiriakou's description, military through and through, and where the leaders of the Pakistani military all live. He is also emphatic that it is a pleasant place, unlike the impression of Pakistan that Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar give on television.[2]

That character is the basis of his judgement about Pakistani foreknowledge. He holds that it would have been impossible for the most wanted man in the world to live half a mile from the Pakistani equivalent of West Point without the state knowing, and that it would have been impossible for the military not to know he was there.[1][2]

## See also

- [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden)
- [ISI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/isi)
- [Pakistan Station (2002)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pakistan-station-2002)
- [Faisalabad](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/faisalabad)

## Sources

1. THE NEVER BROKEN PODCAST (2026-05-09), at 1:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il_KYmRx24Q&t=93s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-09-the-never-broken-podcast-the-never-broken-podcast/
2. THE NEVER BROKEN PODCAST (2026-05-09), at 2:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il_KYmRx24Q&t=124s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-09-the-never-broken-podcast-the-never-broken-podcast/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abbottabad/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt