Navy SEAL who killed bin Laden breaks silence

US: The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden broke his silence Monday, recounting the night he shot the Al-Qaeda leader three times and the financial anxiety he now faces as an unemployed civilian.

The commando kept his identity secret in the Esquire magazine interview, but revealed his role in the daring May 2011 raid for the first time, as well as the worries he has for his family's security.

"He looked confused. And way taller than I was expecting," the SEAL said of bin Laden.

When the commandos came upon bin Laden in the dark on the third floor of his hideout in the town of Abbottabad in Pakistan, the Al-Qaeda mastermind had his hands on his youngest wife's shoulders, "pushing her ahead" and there was an AK-47 assault rifle nearby.

"I don't know if she's got a vest and she's being pushed to martyr them both. He's got a gun within reach. He's a threat. I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off (blow himself up)," the commando said.

"In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he's going down.

AFP