( CNN ) -- One week ago , the chief of Pakistan 's Army Staff , Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani , told graduating cadets in the city of Abbottabad that the `` back of terrorism '' in Pakistan had been broken , thanks to the sacrifices of Pakistan 's soldiers . Kayani was speaking at the `` passing out parade '' at the prestigious Kakul military academy in Abbottabad , the West Point of Pakistan . At that very moment , the man who had dragged Pakistan into the `` War on Terror '' a decade earlier was , it transpires , just a mile or two away , living in apparent comfort behind the high walls of a very private compound . Osama bin Laden , who had declared war on Pakistan , had apparently been living for months in a city that had made its name as a military garrison . Abbottabad , pronounced AHB-tah-bahd , is some 60 miles by winding mountainous roads north of Pakistan 's capital . Surrounded by green hills , it is renowned for its trees and parks . It 's a popular retirement place for officers in the Pakistani army , partly because of its military academy , but also because of its agreeable climate . During British rule , the Imperial Gazeteer of India described it as `` picturesquely situated , '' 4,120 feet above sea level . Abbottabad sits on the Karakoram Highway , an engineering marvel that links Pakistan with China through the Himalayas . Before much of Pakistan became off-limits to most foreign tourists , it was also a popular spot for those on their way to and from the Swat valley and the foothills of the Himalayas . But despite its military traditions , its hockey fields and golf courses , Abbottabad and neighboring districts are also familiar territory to al Qaeda and other extremist groups . In January this year , Pakistani security forces stormed a modest house in the city and seized Umar Patek , an Indonesian linked to al Qaeda who had a $ 1 million bounty on his head under the FBI 's Rewards for Justice program . He had allegedly helped build the bombs used in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 200 people . Patek -- a key leader in the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya -- had rented a room in the house of a retired accountant in Abbottabad after arriving in Pakistan some months earlier on a forged visa . He is now being held ( after treatment for gunshot wounds sustained during his arrest ) pending a decision on his extradition . Patek 's arrest followed that of a Pakistani in Abbottabad called Tahir Shehzad , an alleged al Qaeda facilitator who had been under surveillance for some time , according to Pakistani media reports . Shehzad had allegedly gone to Lahore to meet two French militants who were planning to travel to North Waziristan with Patek . So Abbottabad emerges as something of a way station for al Qaeda and associated groups . Geographically , that makes sense . As the crow flies , the city is just over 100 miles from the border with Kunar province in Afghanistan , an area where al Qaeda has kept a foothold since 9/11 . Even with poor roads and mountainous terrain in between , the journey can be completed in a day . It is even closer to the restive tribal territories . In the past two years , the Pakistani army in this area has been preoccupied with reversing the gains of the Pakistani Taliban , rather than chasing down the remnants of al Qaeda or launching the offensive against militants in North Waziristan that Washington has long demanded . The area to the north of Abbottabad saw a surge in Taliban activity two years ago , as the Taliban sought to extend their influence from the tribal areas that border Afghanistan into what was North West Frontier Province , now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . The town of Buner , just 30 miles from Abbottabad and 60 miles from Islamabad , fell to the Taliban early in 2009 . They also established a training camp close to the town of Mansehr , a few miles from Abbottabad . The Pakistani military has since gradually reasserted control over the area , expelling the Taliban from the Swat Valley , but at a bloody cost . Clashes continue sporadically in the area , and an attack on the offices of the charity World Vision last year in Mansehr resulted in six of the non-governmental organization 's workers being shot dead . To the east of Abbottabad is Pakistani Kashmir , its forested hills hosting training camps for several groups committed to `` liberating '' Indian Kashmir . So it is a city close to the front lines of several of South Asia 's insurgencies and terror campaigns . Like much of the region , Abbottabad has long been a theater of sectarian and religious rivalry . Back in the mid-19th century a British officer named Maj. James Abbott brought peace to an area that saw violent confrontations between its Sikh and Muslim populations . Abbott 's contribution was recognized when the town was named after him . He even wrote a poem about the place that would bear his name : . `` I remember the day when I first came here . And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air ... ''
Abbottabad is home to Pakistan 's equivalent of West Point . Comment: Other wanted terrorist leaders have been found in the city .