The main Karakuram Highway leading to Abbottabad, Pakistani is shown on Monday, May 2, 2011. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was hiding in a two-story house some 500 meters away from Pakistani military academy in Abbottabad when four helicopters carrying U.S. anti-terror forces swooped in the early morning hours of Monday and killed him. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

Ray Maldonado holds up a sign at the site of the former Twin Towers hours after Osama Bin Laden is killed by U.S. Navy Seals almost 10 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York on May 2, 2011. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

Mary Power reacts at the site of the former Twin Towers hours after Osama Bin Laden is killed by U.S. Navy Seals almost 10 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York on May 2, 2011. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

Pakistani Army and Police increased its presence on the streets of Abbottabad, Pakistan where the US Special Forces killed al -Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a nearby compound on May 2, 2011. Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in a firefight it was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 1, 2011. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

The compound where al -Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was hiding is shown surrounded by hills in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in a firefight it was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 1, 2011. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

The local residents in Abbottabad, Pakistan cross through a small tunnel here in the area of Bilal town where al -Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was hiding with his family on May 2, 2011. He was killed by U.S. special forces in a firefight it was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 1, 2011. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

The compound where al -Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was hiding is shown surrounded by hills in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in a firefight it was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 1, 2011. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night bin Laden was killed by an elite U.S. team during a firefight in Pakistan. (mk/aa/UPI via Al-Jazeera) | License Photo

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 2 (UPI) -- Six children and two wives of slain al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden were taken into custody by Pakistani forces, China's Xinhua said, quoting a local channel.

One of bin Laden's sons was killed during the operation, the report said.


The official Chinese news agency said the Urdu language channel Duniya quoted sources as saying the Pakistani forces also arrested four close friends of bin Laden.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night bin Laden was killed by an elite U.S. team during a firefight in Pakistan.

It was not clear if the Urdu channel mentioned the U.S. team but Xinhua quoted the channel as saying the children, the wives and friends of bin Laden were arrested during a search operation Monday morning by the Pakistani forces in a mountainous area about 38 miles from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Separately, Xinhua said the Urdu TV channel Geo News quoted Pakistani intelligence officials as saying bin Laden was killed in a search operation by the Pakistani forces after a Pakistani army helicopter was shot down Monday morning in Abbotabad, a mountainous town north of Islamabad.

The report said a Pakistani helicopter was shot down about 1:20 a.m. local time by unidentified people in the Sikandarabad area of Abbotabad, which then led to the search operation and subsequent exchange of fire.

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The report said the Pakistani forces later arrested some Arab women and children and some armed people who later allegedly confessed to the Pakistani forces they were with bin Laden.

Xinhua quoted local media that two U.S. helicopters later carried away the body of bin Laden.

The report said at least one person was killed and two others were injured in the chopper crash, which also caused fires in two houses.

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