Abbottabad [key], city (2020 pop. 1,332,912), NE Pakistan. It is a popular health resort c.4,000 ft (1,220 m) above sea level in the Himalaya region. It is also an administrative center and a market town for an agricultural and timber area. Founded by Sir James Abbott, a deputy commissioner of British India, it was an important British military post. Nearby are rock inscriptions of Indian emperor Aśoka (3d cent. b.c.). The city suffered widespread damage from the 2005 N Pakistan earthquake. In 2011 Osama bin Laden, who had lived in hiding in a house in Abbottabad for five years, was killed there in a raid by U.S. forces.
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