What really happened in Abbottabad?

A: Aides to President Barack Obama have suggested that the commando team's orders were to either capture bin Laden or kill him. However, U.S. officials familiar with the plan say there was an overwhelming expectation from the outset that bin Laden would be killed during the operation.

In planning the operation, a senior U.S. defense official told a background briefing, "there were certainly capture contingencies, as there must be." But U.S. officials said that the "capture contingencies" related to a possibility thought to be highly unlikely: a humble and abject surrender, in which the al Qaeda founder would put his hands up, raise a white flag and beg not to be shot. There has been no evidence presented that anything like this happened.

Q: Did bin Laden fight back?

A: The U.S. government says bin Laden "resisted" before he was killed by commandos.

According to some early accounts, bin Laden had a gun in his hand but did not fire it. According to one of these accounts, as U.S. raiders made their way through his three-story hideout, they met with hostile fire on the first and second floors, but no shooting on the third, where they found bin Laden.

On Tuesday, however, White House press secretary Jay Carney gave the following version: "In the room with bin Laden, a woman - bin Laden's wife - rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed."

Q: How many times was bin Laden shot, and where?

A: Officials told Reuters they were still awaiting final after-action reports as to how many times and where bin Laden was shot. But an official who saw pictures of the body said he was shot at least once in the face.

The standard Navy SEAL tactic in such an operation would be to shoot the target once in the chest (to stop) and once in the head (to kill). Most, though not all, media reports say this is what happened.