The British Chinooks were sent to the military town of Abbottabad, northern Pakistan, in October 2005, at around the same time as bin Laden is thought to have moved in.

Secret diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks show that American troops may also have been stationed in the area in 2008 as part of the US effort to train Pakistan’s special forces in the fight against extremism.

Bin Laden is believed to have moved into his compound in Abbottabad, just a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s military training academy, in 2005.