Reports from Pakistan say security forces have begun to destroy the compound in the city of Abbottabad where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived out his final years before U.S. troops killed him last May.

Residents say the government sent in heavy equipment on Saturday to destroy the structures on the site and is keeping it under strict security. The government has not given a reason for the demolition.

The unilateral U.S. raid on the compound that resulted in bin Laden's death was an embarrassment to the Pakistani government because it had not been advised of the raid ahead of time.