The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TRUMP: BIN LADEN SON KILLED IN U.S. ATTACK
Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden and once-possible heir to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, was killed in a U.S. counterterror operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, President Donald Trump said Saturday — more than a month after officials suggested he was killed.
What happened
Osama bin Laden’s son was “responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. His death is a blow to al-Qaeda’s leadership acumen, Trump said, and symbolic given the connec- tion to his slain father, who was killed in a Navy SEAL raid on his Pakistani refuge in 2011.
Trump gave no further details over the operation to kill the younger bin Laden, and it is unclear when and where he was killed. No recordings featuring bin Laden had been released for several months, and al-Qaeda has not issued a formal announcement of his death.
What it means
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who co-founded al-Qaeda, remains the organization’s leader. Al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts are unknown.
While the White House confirmed Hamza bin Laden’s death Saturday, U.S. officials for months have telegraphed the possibility of his killing at the hands of U.S. forces. In July, NBC reported it obtained intelligence he was killed. He was believed to be about 30 years old.
About him
Hamza bin Laden was an appealing figure for a younger generation of Islamic militancy, terror experts have said, as al-Qaeda competes with the Islamic State for visibility and recruits.
Documents recovered from the raid to kill Osama bin-Laden, which included directions to aides on how to care for and educate his son, indicated plans to groom him for senior militant leadership.
While Osama bin-Laden favored large and intricate terror strikes, such as the Sept. 11 attacks, his son favored quick, spontaneous worldwide violence again Americans, Europeans, Jewish people and pro-Western Muslims using any weapon the militants could muster.
“If you are able to pick a firearm, well and good; if not, the options are many,” he said in a 2017 recording.
Hamza bin Laden was an appealing figure for a younger generation of Islamic militancy, terror experts have said, as al-Qaeda competes with the Islamic State for visibility and recruits.