Chitral, Pakistan - This Is Where Osama bin Laden Is Hiding

A good piece is out here at the Daily News that speaks to the latest information as to the specific location of al Qaeda head, Osama bin Laden. There's been a lot of conjecture over the years where bin Laden is but this article seems to narrow all of the latest intel into a geographic area of the Hindu Kush mountains in NW Pakistan known as Chitral. Here's some of the details from the article:

The U.S. won't say it officially, but an exhaustive Daily News investigation finds the world's biggest manhunt for the monster who murdered nearly 3,000 people on 9/11 has zeroed in on Chitral's stunning peaks and deep valleys.
Six U.S. and foreign officials confirmed to The News that northwestern Pakistan's impenetrable Hindu Kush mountains - which boast some of the world's tallest climbs - in the Chitral region have been eyed as Bin Laden's hideout since 2006 by Osama hunters aiming for the big kill.

Captured Al Qaeda leaders have given up as his hideout. "Debriefings of Al Qaeda leaders arrested confirmed this," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda."
Two senior foreign officials said the nearby town of Kalam also is suspect.
Drones were first spotted spying on Chitral last summer and were seen again as recently as Feb. 2. Chitral is so far from U.S.-run airfields that drone sorties are limited to just a few hours because of fueling issues.

This makes a lot of sense in that instead of bin Laden trying to move around like he did in Afghanistan for quite some time, avoiding detection...he moved to Chitral up into the Hindu Kush mountains where his hunters simply cannot get to him. There's another article here, also from the Daily news that lays out the challenge of Chitral this way:

Terrain: He could be anywhere in thousands of square miles of mountains among the tallest on Earth and fortified by deep, avalanche-prone snow.
Elevation: If he lives at 10-16,000 feet, U.S. hunters must be acclimatized or suffer altitude sickness, which can be fatal.
Aircraft: The huge CH-47 Chinook is the only chopper that can lift a sizeable force using oxygen to those heights, but it's a big, loud and slow target.

From the second article, it has become fairly obvious that the U.S. has decided that it is more likely that we could take out bin Laden by drone using hellfires than any sort of commando team - the one issue in this area is that it is so far from any U.S. or NATO base that once the predator drones get to Chitral, they only have a few hours of fuel left to get the surveillance done.

But it is a fact that U.S. drones are buzzing the mountains of Chitral more than ever and it is likely that bin Laden himself has probably heard a few of them...and hopefully that will get him thinking, get him worrying...if he were to get skiddish and try another move after all of this time, it might be the break we need.

Where is Osama bin Laden? U.S. zeros in on Chitral, Pakistan in hunt for 9/11 mastermind

Where's Osama? Try Chitral, once a trekkers' paradise in Pakistan that has been sealed off to outsiders and is now regularly buzzed by American spy drones.
The U.S. won't say it officially, but an exhaustive Daily News investigation finds the world's biggest manhunt for the monster who murdered nearly 3,000 people on 9/11 has zeroed in on Chitral's stunning peaks and deep valleys.
Six U.S. and foreign officials confirmed to The News that northwestern Pakistan's impenetrable Hindu Kush mountains - which boast some of the world's tallest climbs - in the Chitral region have been eyed as Bin Laden's hideout since 2006 by Osama hunters aiming for the big kill.
A lengthy review of evidence, including recent Predator fly-bys, Bin Laden's tapes since 9/11 and interviews with three dozen experts on Al Qaeda, Pakistan and special operations, point to these vast mountains as the terror chief's most likely haven.
Captured Al Qaeda leaders have given up as his hideout. "Debriefings of Al Qaeda leaders arrested confirmed this," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda."
Two senior foreign officials said the nearby town of Kalam also is suspect.
Drones were first spotted spying on Chitral last summer and were seen again as recently as Feb. 2. Chitral is so far from U.S.-run airfields that drone sorties are limited to just a few hours because of fueling issues.
Moreover, Islamic militancy is taking root in several Chitrali valleys leading to the Afghan border, prompting Pakistan's tourism ministry to decree them off-limits to foreigners, local sources said - reinforcing the suspicion Osama is nearby.
CIA Director Leon Panetta has told Congress he asks "every day" where Bin Laden is hiding.
Reports of his location were rare after he escaped a U.S. onslaught in Afghanistan in 2001.
Saturday, Bin Laden's 29th tape since 9/11 was broadcast on Al Jazeera. He branded Israel's ongoing Gaza offensive a "holocaust," accused moderate Arab leaders of plotting with the West against Muslims, and urged his followers to prepare for holy war.