Bodies, wreckage photos published

NEW: Analysts say wrecked chopper likely was a stealth aircraftReuters published graphic photos of the compound WednesdayThe pictures include the bodies of three men and helicopter wreckageOther photos show the helicopter abandoned by the SEAL team

(CNN) -- Pictures taken shortly after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden show three men lying dead in pools of blood and the wreckage of a U.S. helicopter abandoned during the assault.

One of the dead men bears a family resemblance to bin Laden, but there was no confirmation of his identity. The al Qaeda leader's adult son was among those killed in Monday's attack by U.S. commandos, according to American officials.

The pictures were published Wednesday by Reuters. The news agency says they were taken by a Pakistani security official about an hour after U.S. forces left bin Laden's compound and that it is confident of the authenticity of the purchased images.

Clad in a T-shirt, the man who resembles bin Laden lies in a large pool of blood that appears to spread from the back of his head. Two other men, dressed in Pakistani clothing, appear to have died from extensive head and chest wounds.

Sources have named the courier who lived at the compound as al Qaeda veteran Sheikh Abu Ahmad -- a Kuwaiti citizen of Pakistani descent.

Other photos, taken at dawn on Monday show the wreckage of the helicopter the U.S. Navy SEAL team had to leave behind after a crash-landing. Analysts believe it to be a stealth aircraft; the tail assembly is different from known helicopter types and could indicate some kind of previously unknown capability to avoid radar.

A senior U.S. official tells CNN that a tail portion of the helicopter was not destroyed, and that, to the best of his knowledge, that wreckage remains in the hands of the Pakistani government.

In particular, the tail features a cowling that might have been designed to reduce rotor noise levels, they said.

Pakistan has already said that the helicopters used in the raid took advantage of blind spots in radar coverage to penetrate deep into its territory undetected.

CNN's Chris Lawrence contributed to this report.

CNN Top Stories

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.