The global terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was not armed during the raid on his compound in Pakistan, U.S. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Media personnels and local residents gather outside the compound where Osama bin Laden had been living for years in Abbottabad, a main city in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on May 3, 2011. Foreign and local journalists were allowed on Tuesday for the first time to go up to the 6-meter cement walls of the compound where Osama bin Laden had been living for years. [Ahmad Kamal/Xinhua]

He said bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floors of the building in Abbottabad near Islamabad.

He said in addition to the bin Laden family, two other families resided in the compound: one family on the first floor of the bin Laden building, and one family in a second building.

One US team began the operation on the first floor of the bin Laden house and worked their way to the third floor. A second team cleared the separate building, Carney said.

On the first floor of bin Laden’s building, two al Qaeda couriers were killed, along with a woman who was killed in crossfire. "There was concern that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation, and indeed, he did resist." He said.

"In the room with bin Laden, his wife rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed." Carney said.

He said the White House was considering whether to release photos of bin Laden after he was killed, but "there are sensitivities in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs in the aftermath of this firefight."

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on May 1 that bin Laden, the founder and head of Al-Qaida, was killed by US forces at a compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, which is located close to the capital, Islamabad.