Osama bin Laden was not armed when a U.S. Navy SEAL team raided his compound in Pakistan and killed him, the White House revealed on Tuesday.

The new information initially appeared to contradict earlier reports from Washington that said bin Laden had resisted during the clandestine operation last week.

But White House press secretary Jay Carney said that resistance did not imply that he was armed.

Bin Laden was shot in the chest and head during the raid. Officials say that a woman was with bin Laden, and that she was shot but not killed.

Earlier, the U.S. government said it may release photographic evidence of the killing, as members of the public, various nations and even the Taliban demand proof of his demise.

Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said officials have graphic video and photos from the raid, including one of the al Qaeda leader with a bullet hole above one of his eyes and in his chest.

The news comes as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to visit Ground Zero to meet with families who were affected by the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a plot popularly blamed on bin Laden. Some families have requested to see the photos as a step toward closure, and certain countries have asked for proof bin Laden is dead, said Brennan.

The Taliban have also badgered the U.S. government to provide proof of bin Laden's death.

In a recent email to journalists, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that insurgents have not been able to independently confirm that bin Laden was killed.

Mujahid said the Taliban have not heard from sources close to bin Laden, and the reports of his death are "coming only from one side."

However, the release of such material is sure to come with controversy. Many New Yorkers are already worried that the raid and ensuing celebrations are putting their city back in the crosshairs of would-be terrorists. The release of graphic photos of the dead al Qaeda leader would likely further stir the pot among those who oppose the U.S.

"There is a sense that bin Laden may be gone but the war on terrorism carries on," said CTV's Paula Todd, reporting from New York City on Tuesday.

She said some people fear the jubilant public celebrations since the announcement of bin Laden's death will further incense those who would attack America's biggest city.

"I am hearing that we should tone down the rhetoric to avoid making (the threat) worse than it is."

Pakistani officials have denied having any idea the world's most wanted terrorist was living in a protected suburban compound there -- and say their failure to find bin Laden is deeply embarrassing.

American forces killed the al Qaeda figurehead at a heavily guarded compound not from Islamabad, in a busy garrison town home to a Pakistani military academy. Reports say the prestigious school, of equal stature locally to the West Point academy in the U.S, was just a few hundred metres from the Abbottabad property.

In a newspaper editorial that marks his first formal comments since the secret U.S. operation, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari denied any suggestions that his country sheltered bin Laden, who is believed to have lived in the compound for up to six years.

"Some in the U.S. press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing," Zardari wrote in Monday's Washington Post. "Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn't reflect fact."

Meanwhile, an unidentified Pakistani intelligence official is calling the country's failures an embarrassment, saying the compound was raided in 2003 in a search for another al Qaeda operative, but had not been on the agency's radar lately. The unidentified Inter-Services Intelligence official told the BBC: "We were totally caught by surprise. They were in and out before we could react."

The raid, conducted by an American Navy SEAL team using four helicopters, was kept a secret from the local military for fear they would intercept the raid, said Brennan.

While demanding an explanation for the security slip, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that it's not in his country's interest to start a feud with Pakistan over the mistake. The country is largely unstable and a nuclear power, yet continues to be a crucial ally in the war with Afghanistan, its neighbour to the north.

Reporters who were allowed past the compound's barbed-wire fence for the first time on Monday say the home's doors were sealed shut and guarded by local police. A servant's quarters outside the 15-foot fence showed damage from a violent entry, with clothes, bedding and a wall clock strewn on the floor -- the time frozen at 2:20, the local time when the raid took place.

Local residents had collected remnants from a U.S. helicopter that malfunctioned during the raid. The aircraft was disabled by the Navy Seals as they retreated.

With files from The Associated Press