The CIA announced on Wednesday the release of hundreds of thousands of additional files recovered in the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“Today’s release of recovered al-Qa‘ida letters, videos, audio files and other materials provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization,” CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in a press release posted on the Agency’s website.
Included among the nearly 470,000 files are bin Laden’s personal journal, newly-released video of his son, Hamza bin Laden, and tens of thousands of audio, video and image documents.
The announcement follows previous CIA releases of documents from bin Laden’s compound by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2015, 2016 and this past January. The files were first obtained by The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which had long advocated for their release.
“The key now is to learn from them to dispel some myths, and to gain a clearer understanding of this ruthless terrorist network that continues to threaten the United States and worldwide,” said Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice-President at the foundation.
The documents touch on themes which include the connections between al Qaeda, ISIS and Iran, efforts to promote the group’s message using Western media, as well as rehabilitating its image, the CIA said.
According to the Agency, remaining files not yet released include documents sensitive to national security, pornography and videos containing copyright material, notably Hollywood movies such as “Antz,” “Chicken Little” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.”
Verdi Tzou is a national security web editor at The Cipher Brief.
