White House: Son of Osama bin Laden Has Been Killed

The White House says Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late al-Qaeda leader who'd become an increasingly prominent figure in the terrorist organization, has been killed in a US counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. A White House statement gives no further details, such as when Hamza bin Laden was killed or how the United States confirmed his death, per the AP. NBC News and CNN noted back in July that intelligence had come in on a reported Hamza bin Laden death, with US officials saying the death reportedly occurred within the past two years.

Hamza bin Laden's last public message was released by al-Qaeda's comms team in March 2018; in it, he threatened Saudi Arabia and asked those living on the Arabian Peninsula to revolt. The White House statement notes Hamza bin Laden's reported 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." As leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and others plotted the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. US Navy SEALs killed him in a raid on a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.

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