U.S. revises story on bin Laden's raid, offers more details

Abbottabad, Pakistan (CNN) - U.S. officials issued a revised version of the nighttime raid that killed the world's most-notorious terrorist, including additional details that revealed other options were on the table before settling on the assault.

The 40-minute raid early Monday in Pakistan left Osama bin Laden dead, along with four others in the complex that sits on a mountainous region near the capital.

Bin Laden was not armed during the raid, but he put up resistance when U.S. forces entered the compound, the White House said. Officials had earlier said that bin Laden was an active participant in the firefight, implying that he was armed and gave the U.S. Navy SEALs little choice but to shoot him down.

After the operation, U.S. forces departed with the al Qaeda leader's body, nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

"It was a staggering undertaking and there was no one else, I believe, other than an American group of military warriors who could do it," U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday. "And the world is a safer place today, not only for the American people but for all people."

Officials on Tuesday offered new details about the raid and clarified earlier accounts.