The White House is dismissing as untrue an article alleging that US President Barack Obama misled the public about how the US killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The BBC earlier reported that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Seymour Hersh said the US raid on bin Laden was not a secret and risky US action, but was a joint operation between Washington and Islamabad military intelligence.

The allegation has many in the US - and Pakistan - crying foul and pointing to what they see as insufficient attribution and questionable conclusions throughout Hersh's lengthy piece, the BBC said.