The body of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea after he was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, CNN reported on Monday.

A senior U.S. official said the burial would be "handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition."

"This is something that we take very seriously. And so therefore this is being handled in an appropriate manner."

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night that a U.S. operation had killed bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.