Published 15:11 IST, September 27th 2019
Osama bin Laden toy on sale in Russia; placed next to airplane models
Osama bin Laden's action figure found itself on the shelves of a toy store, right next to the Boeing 777 figurine, the same plane that was used in 9/11 attack.
Terrorist Osama bin Laden's action figure found itself on the shelves of Russia's toy store, paired with a toy AK-47 assault rifle, and a flag of the Islamic State (ISIS). However, facing severe backlash on social media, action figure of former Al-Qaeda chief, costing $30 (2100 INR) was immediately taken off by the authorities of the store.
According to an RT report, the toy store administration claimed that they were absolutely clueless on how action figure came to be on sale in the store, more so, next to the Boeing 777 ornamental model. Irnoically, Boeing 777, is the same airplane model that was used to attack the Twin Towers on 9/11, masterminded by former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
In 2014, the US intelligence agency, the CIA started making Bin Laden action figures with the intent to dissuade children from backing him, according to an international report. It was reported that in 2005, the CIA started developing action figures of the al Qaeda chief using heat-dissolving material that would flake off, leaving a red-faced demon like the terrorist. While the project was called off, an international report claimed that hundreds of demonic Bin Laden action figures were sent to Pakistan's Karachi in 2006.
Osama bin Laden in Pakistan
On May 2, 2011, a US SEAL team tracked down the most wanted terrorist then, Osama bin Laden to a secret compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad. The compound in Pakistan was raided on orders of former US President Barack Obama by a group of 25 Naval Seals, and Bin Laden's body was thrown off in the Arabian Sea without 24 hours according to Islamic law.
On July 23, former CIA Director Gen David Petraeus had said that he is "convinced" that the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, did not know Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, countering Prime Minister Imran Khan's claims that the ISI provided a lead to the CIA that helped the US track down and kill the al Qaeda chief in 2011. "It was the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that gave the information which led to the location of Osama bin Laden. If you ask the CIA it was the ISI which gave the initial location through the phone connection," Pakistan PM Imran Khan had said during his maiden visit to the US in July.
Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistan doctor who assisted the CIA by running a vaccination drive to collect the DNA of Bin Laden's family members is still serving jail-time in Pakistani prison after being sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason. In November 2018, US President Donald Trump in a twitter spat blamed Pakistan for harbouring the world’s most wanted terrorist at one time, Osama bin Laden.
Updated 17:49 IST, September 27th 2019