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Abbottabad children played by bin Laden's compound

By the CNN Wire Staff
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Kids in 'Osama-ville'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Children would knock on door for 10 or 20 minutes, one tells CNN
  • When a ball went into the compound, a man would pay them for it, a child says
  • Some of the kids they played with may have been bin Laden grandchildren
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Abbottabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Children in the Abbottabad neighborhood where Osama bin Laden lived said they noticed oddities at bin Laden's massive compound but were oblivious that the world's most wanted terror leader was hiding in the quiet city.

Twelve-year-old Zarar Amjed Turk is one of the children who played with the eight or nine kids from bin Laden's house -- some of whom may have been the al Qaeda leader's grandchildren.

"I don't know why they had security cameras installed outside the house," Zarar said. "We used to knock the door for 10 or 20 minutes then someone used to come to talk. That was strange for us."

He said he didn't know the names of the kids he played with.

"We used to play cricket next to their house. Whenever our cricket ball went into the compound, we knocked on the door and asked for the ball. But the guy always said our ball was lost, and gave us 50 rupees (59 cents) and asked us to buy a new one."

Zarar had never heard the name Osama bin Laden before the terror leader's death last week.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report.

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