Two women injured in US raid that killed bin Laden

Summary of story from Politico, May 2, 2011

Two women who were injured in the US raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday were left at the scene of the firefight, as was another woman killed in the battle.

“The only person taken away….from the compound was Bin Laden,” said the American official, who asked not to be named.

The women who survived would presumably have useful intelligence about how long bin Laden lived in the compound north of Islamabad.

It is unclear in whose custody the women might be. Local press reports on Monday said the pair and several children in the compound were in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

However, it appears there was no handoff since US officials said there was no contact with local authorities during the raid.

Obama and other US officials repeatedly emphasized that the US forces carrying out the mission made extensive provisions to limit injuries to non-combatants.

The team “took care to avoid civilian casualties,” Obama said in his speech Sunday night.

“This operation was a surgical raid by a small team designed to minimize collateral damage and to pose as little risk as possible to non-combatants on the compound or to Pakistani civilians in the neighborhood,” one senior administration official said early Monday morning in a conference call with reporters.

“There were several women and children at the compound.”

Presumably, preparing to minimize civilian casualties–and tending to any Americans who could have been injured–would involve having medics along for the mission. Normal military procedure would also include providing first aid to any wounded.