A Russian-designed assault rifle found next to the body of Osama Bin Laden after the al-Qaida leader`s 2011 assassination by American special forces is on display at a secret museum at the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), NBC News reported this week.

The rifle is identified on a brass plaque in the museum as “Osama bin Laden`s AK-47,” referring to the iconic Soviet-produced assault rifle invented by Russian small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, according to NBC News.

The weapon was grabbed by US Special Forces during a May 2011 raid on Bin Laden`s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, said Toni Hiley, curator of the museum at the CIA`s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

“This is the rifle that was recovered from the third floor of the Abbottabad compound by the assault team,” Hiley told NBC News. “Because of its proximity to [Bin Laden] there on the third floor in the compound, our analyst determined it to be his. It`s a Russian AK with counterfeit Chinese markings.”

The significance of the Chinese script reportedly embossed on the weapon was not immediately clear.

The CIA would not reveal how the assault rifle ended up in the museum, which includes a range of artifacts going back seven decades, including devices and trophies from World War II through US counterterrorism operations in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, NBC News reported.

The agency said only that former CIA director Leon Panetta “asked that it come into the museum collection,” according NBC News.

A source told the US television network, however, that it came from CIA operations staff that worked in the Navy Seals team that conducted the raid on the Abbottabad compound in which Bin Laden was shot dead.

While the weapon is identified in the museum as an AK-47, New York Times senior correspondent C.J. Chivers – author of the book “The Gun,” which explores the history of the Kalashnikov`s invention – said Thursday on Twitter that the CIA museum display shown by NBC News features a “descendent” of the legendary assault rifle known as the AKMS.

Kalashnikov was originally inspired to design the AK-47 as a soldier after being wounded during World War II in 1941. While his first attempts were unsuccessful, he was given a position in weapons development, and by 1947 he had perfected his masterpiece.

Since then, the AK-47 and its variants have become the most widespread and famous assault rifles in history. Used by some 50 armies around the world, as well as countless urban guerrilla movements. The flag of Mozambique features an AK-47.

More about: