Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida and the alleged nd behind Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York was killed a firefight on Sunday with U.S. forces in Pakistan, news reports said.

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," US President Barack Obama said in a late night announcement at the White House.

U.S. officials said the helicopter raid in Pakistan was carried out by CIA paramilitaries together with the elite Navy SEAL Team Six.

Sri Lanka ended its nearly 30 year-long battle against terrorism with the defeat of LTTE and the elimination of its leader Vellupillai Prabhakan during the humanitarian operation that ended on May 19, 2009. The LTTE was described by the US State Department as the world's most ruthless terrorist organization.