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Trump confirms death of al-Qaeda heir Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden
- US President Donald Trump says the al-Qaeda heir was killed in a US counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region
- The ‘crown prince of jihad’ was reportedly being groomed to lead al-Qaeda
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US President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that Hamza bin Laden, the son and designated heir of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, was killed in a counterterrorism operation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
US media had reported in late July and early August that the younger Bin Laden had been killed sometime in the last two years in an operation that involved the United States.
US defence secretary Mark Esper said last month that it was “his understanding” that Bin Laden was dead, but Trump and other senior officials had not publicly confirmed the news until now.
“Hamza bin Laden, the high-ranking al-Qaeda member and son of Osama bin Laden, was killed in a United States counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region,” Trump said in a brief statement issued by the White House.
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“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 did not specify the timing of the operation.
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The 15th of Osama bin Laden’s 20 children and a son of his third wife, Hamza was “emerging as a leader in the al-Qaeda franchise”, the State Department said in announcing a US$1 million bounty on his head in February 2019 – perhaps after his actual demise. He was thought to have been about 30 years old.
Sometimes dubbed the “crown prince of jihad”, he had put out audio and video messages calling for attacks on the United States and other countries, especially to avenge his father’s killing by US forces in Pakistan in May 2011, the department said.
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