( CNN ) -- Life tends to be simpler , slower , safer in Abbottabad than in many Pakistani cities . Drivers take their time on the winding mountain roads . Streets are largely empty at night , with people routinely turning in by 9 p.m. And violence found in tribal areas near the Afghanistan border , in the disputed territory of Kashmir , and denser cities including Lahore and Islamabad typically has no place in Abbottabad . Until Monday morning , that is . That 's when Abbottabad went from a sleepy northern Pakistani city 50 kilometers ( 31 miles ) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to the site of a bloody and historic firefight . There , in a city heavily populated with Pakistani army personnel , a handful of American special forces executed a daring 40-minute raid in which they killed Osama bin Laden , the world 's most well-known terrorist leader . The electricity was out in Abbottabad early Monday , recalled city resident Sohair Athar . This was not an especially unusual occurrence , he said . Nor was the buzz of a helicopter overhead , especially given the abundance of such flights since massive floods ravaged the region . But the freelance software engineer , who also owns a coffee shop in town , noticed the helicopter did n't land immediately , as they usually do . Instead it hovered , prompting him to write on his Twitter feed : `` Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter : -/ . '' Shortly thereafter , Athar -- who had come to the typically restive city of Abbottabad in part for peace and security from Lahore -- heard a loud explosion . `` I thought to myself , I had moved all the way to Abbottabad from Lahore only to avoid bomb blasts and violence , and now this had even followed me even here , '' Athar told CNN . Fayez Noor , a 24-year-old student at the Institute of Information and Technology , heard three explosions in all . After the first one at 1:08 a.m. , he texted a friend to ask him what happened . The last -- coming just three minutes later -- was the biggest . `` My house , which is three kilometers ( two miles ) away ( from the bid Laden compound ) , shook and the glass in the windows rattled , '' Noor recalled . Helicopters were seen , too , heading out . Noor said that one flew over his house , while Sahndana Syed , a doctor in the city , saw one final chopper flying off very low . `` Initially , I was too afraid to go out , '' Syed said . `` I was terrified . '' But within just a few minutes , by 1:15 a.m. , the power was back on . `` I did not think much of it , other than these were odd occurrences , '' recalled Athar . `` I shut my laptop and walked away . '' As people went to sleep , Pakistani TV stations reported it was all part of a Pakistani military exercise . It was not until after dawn that the facts became evident : one of the world 's most wanted fugitives , bin Laden , had been living in their midst and was now dead , killed by U.S. forces . `` It came as a big surprise , '' said Syed , the 28-year-old doctor . `` Nobody knew . '' By the next day , the blockage of streets around the housing compound where bin Laden lived was the most visible reminder of the raid . Residents talked over tea about the fact the mastermind of the September 11 , 2001 , and other attacks , just a few hours earlier , had lived in their midst -- and that a foreign military , too , had descended on their city . Noor said that some in Abbottabad are angry at the Pakistani government , not just for letting other nation 's military strike in their hometown but also for the fact its own military , despite having a major base down the street , never acted on its own . Still , for the talk , the college student said that it did n't take the city long to return to normal . `` The truth is , we 're all going about our lives as though nothing happened , '' said Noor . `` I went to college today ( with ) my friends here , and traffic is at is always is . ''
Residents say Abbottabad is simpler and safer than most Pakistani cities . They recalled planes flying overhead early Monday and several blasts . Many days later , news came out that someone had lived and was buried there . There is controversy about the historic development , but life returns to normal .