Osama was captured alive, claims his daughter

New Delhi: Osama bin Laden was captured alive by US forces but shot dead in front of family members, Osama's' daughter reportedly told Pakistani authorities.

NBC News has confirmed an earlier Al Arabiya report, which said the girl told the investigators that commandos had captured her father alive and that they shot him to death in front of the family ten minutes after they located him.

The report also says that the daughter was part of a group taken away after the raid.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney described the raid, saying the US team methodically cleared the compound, moving from room to room, before Bin laden was shot and killed. Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot dead by US special forces, the White House said.

Osama bin Laden, the longtime leader of al Qaeda, was killed by US forces in a mansion about 60 km, north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

The Pakistani intelligence official said he did not know who fired the shot that actually killed the terror mastermind.

US sources including a senior official and a congressional source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head.

Three other men were also killed in raid, as was a woman who was being used as a human shield, senior administration officials said.

The US team was at the compound for about 40 minutes, the officials said. There were no casualties on the American side, although a US helicopter crashed during the raid due to mechanical problems. The helicopter was then destroyed for security reasons.

A senior administration official told reporters that Obama's administration did not share intelligence gathered beforehand with any other country including Pakistan for security reasons.

The official said only a small group of people inside the US government knew about this operation ahead of time. Another official said a small US team was involved in the operation; but the official would not confirm any US military involvement.

However, a senior defense official said US Navy SEALs were involved.