Trump confirms Bin Laden’s successor son was killed in counter-terrorism operation
HAMZA BIN LADEN, the son of Osama bin Laden, was killed in a US counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Donald Trump confirmed yesterday.
US media reported the death of the younger Bin Laden, who had been tipped as a future leader of al-Qaeda, over the summer and Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, appeared to confirm it in an interview in August.
But the statement issued by the US president yesterday was the first official confirmation.
The White House statement said Bin Laden was killed in the Afghanistan/ Pakistan region but offered no other details, such as when he was killed or how he had died.
He had been playing an increasingly prominent role in the terrorist organisation formerly led by his father, but had not been heard from since March 2018.
“The loss of Hamza bin Laden not only deprives al-Qaeda of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group,” the statement read.
“Hamza bin Laden was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups.”
As al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden oversaw a string of attacks on US targets, most notoriously the terrorist atrocity which killed 2,977 people on Sept 11 2001.
The US invasion of Afghanistan which followed the 9/11 attack saw the Bin Laden family separate as they went on the run. Hamza bin Laden is believed to have been 12 at the time.
In May 2011, US Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden and another of his sons, Khalid, in a raid on his hideout.
Hamza resurfaced in a video in 2015 on jihadi websites in which Ayman alZawahri, the group’s leader, introduced him as “a lion from the den of al-Qaeda”.
After that, he featured in a series of al-Qaeda messages.
This February, the US government offered $1million for help tracking down Hamza bin Laden as part of the State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme.