Bin Laden son confirmed killed in U.S. operation
WASHING TON» The White House announced Saturday that Hamza bin Laden, son of the late al-qaeda leader who had become an increasingly prominent figure in the terrorist organization, was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-pakistan region.
A statement issued in President Donald Trump’s name gave no further details, such as when Hamza bin Laden was killed or how the United States had confirmed his death.
Trump administration officials provided no more information beyond the three-sentence statement from the White House.
American officials have said there are indications that the CIA, not the U.S. military, conducted the strike. The CIA declined to comment on whether the agency was involved.
The White House statement said Hamza bin Laden’s death “not only deprives al-qaeda of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father but undermines important operational activities of the group.”
It said Osama bin Laden’s son “was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups.”
The U.S. had suspected this summer that Hamza bin Laden was dead, based on intelligence reports and the fact that he had not been heard from in some time.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the Fox News Channel in a late August interview that it was “my understanding” that Hamza bin Laden was dead.
A U.S. official familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity about intelligence-gathering said bin laden was killed in the past 18 months. Confirming such a high-profile death can take a long time, said the official, who declined to say what led the U.S. to report bin Laden’s death with certainty.
The younger bin Laden had been viewed as an eventual heir to the leadership of al-qaeda, and the group’s leader, Ayman al-zawahiri, had praised him in a 2015 video that appeared on jihadi websites, calling him a “lion from the den of al-qaeda.”
Bin Laden’s death leaves al-zawahiri with the challenge of finding a different successor.