WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden's death in a ripped-from-a-spy-thriller helicopter raid and firefight gives a storied unit of US special operations forces bragging rights for what has become the most famous covert operation since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks launched on bin Laden's orders.

The unit, called Navy SEAL Team Six, probably won't claim the credit publicly, however.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say units from SEAL Team Six dropped into bin Laden's high-walled compound in Pakistan early on Monday, sliding down ropes in the pre-dawn dark. The military won't confirm which unit carried out the attack.