Hamza Bin Laden, son of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, is reportedly dead.
According to two American officials, Hamza, the eventual heir to the Qaeda leadership was killed. He repeatedly threatened to attack the United States.
News about his death was very vague, as we still don’t know when and where he was killed. All we know is that the United States government played a huge role in his death, without knowing how.
Increased anonymity surrounds government officials as it involved sensitive operations and intelligence gathering.
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Hamza Bin Laden was killed during the first two years of the Trump administration
In February, the State Department announced a $1 million reward for information about his whereabouts. He was killed before then, but the American military and intelligence agencies couldn’t confirm his death.
NBC News was first to announce his death, but Reuters reports that only recently have officials confirmed his death.
On Wednesday, President Trump was asked about the incident, and his reply was, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
In 2009 and 2011, two other Bin Laden brothers were killed as well.
A former FBI agent, Ali Soufan describes Hamza as his son’s favorite in an article published by the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point. It is known that he was being groomed for Al Qaeda leadership.
“Many factors suggest that Hamza could be a highly effective leader: his family pedigree, his dynastic marriage, his longstanding jihadi fervor and obvious charisma, and his closeness to al-Qa`ida’s most senior operatives,” Soufan wrote. “It remains to be seen how, exactly, the organization will make use of him, but it is clear that his star is on the rise. That should worry policymakers in the West as well as in the Muslim world.”
