OSAMA bin Laden’s son and terror heir was killed in a US counter-terrorism operation, Donald Trump has confirmed.
Hamza bin Laden, 30, was a high-ranking official in al-Qaeda – the group behind the devastating 9 / 11 attacks – and was dubbed the Crown Prince of Jihad.
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The White House confirmed the news today after rumors circulated last month that he had been killed in a secret US mission.
A statement said: “Hamza bin Ladin, the high-ranking al-Qa’ida member and son of Usama bin Ladin, was killed in a United States counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan / Pakistan region.
“The loss of Hamza bin Ladin not only deprives al-Qa’ida of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group.
“Hamza bin Ladin was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups.”
The terror chief – the 15 th of Osama’s 56 children – was believed to be in hiding in Pakistan , Afghanistan or possibly even Iran.
A $ 1million bounty was put on his head in February over fears he was becoming a terror figurehead.
In a State Department briefing, Hamza had been described as an “emerging leader” in Al-Qaeda after he had called for attacks on the West.
It was claimed he wanted revenge for the killing of his father Osama.
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The Al-Qaeda leader was tracked down to the Abbottobad compound nearly ten years later and killed in a hit by US Navy SEALS on 2 May 2011, aged 54. His body was later buried at sea.
He was once named the world’s most wanted man after plotting the 9 / 11 attacks against the US in 2001 – which killed close to 3, 000 People.
Last August it was revealed Hamza had married the daughter of Mohammed Atta – the lead hijacker in the massacre.
Hamza bin Laden – a life steeped in terror
Hamza bin Landen was the son of Osama bin Laden and Khairiah Sabar, one of the former al -Qaeda leader’s three surviving wives.
She was holed up with bin Laden when he was killed by US Navy SEALS in Abbottabad in 2011.
Hamza is believed to have been born in Jeddah and from an early age he was groomed to be a leader in the terror group.
He traveled with his father as he moved the base of his terror operation from Afghanistan to Sudan – and back again when the government succumbed to western pressure to kick him out.
According to anarticle
written for by former FBI agent Ali Soufan for the Combatting Terrorism Center at the US Army’s West Point military academy, Hamza was the favorite of bin Laden’s five sons.
He underwent terror training from a young age and began appearing in jihadi videos, delivering fiery messages in a squeaky boy’s voice.
His charisma began to show, in particular when he delivered a poem at a family wedding aged 15.
Hamza’s “assured performance transfixed guests” and bin Laden family members, who “would talk about it, and even have dreams about it, for years to come”.
He was at his father’s side in Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Hamza spent time with him in Pakistan after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan pushed much of al-Qaeda’s senior leadership there.
As Pakistan began clamping down on al-Qaeda under pressure from the US, Hamza secretly slipped into Iran but was detained by the country’s intelligence services.
Hamza and his mother were held at a succession of military facilities in the Tehran area, separated from the outside world by high walls, razor wire, and surveillance cameras.
He was traded for an Iranian diplomat captured by al-Qaeda and made his way to Waziristan, a remote tribal area of Pakistan.
According to the Combatting Terrorism Center article, he visited his father at his Abottabad hideout and may have avoided the US raid by a few days.
From his hiding place Hamza bin Laden spewed out jihadi messages urging his followers to wage war on the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Recently he has been seen as a deputy to al-Qaeda’s leader al-Zawahiri.
According to letters seized from Osama Bin Laden’s compound after his death, he was grooming Hamza to replace him as leader of the network.
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Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza vows revenge and war against the West
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