The United States has obtained intelligence that the son of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is reportedly dead, according to NBC News.
NBC cited three anonymous U.S. officials who said the U.S. has obtained intel that Hamza bin Laden is dead, NBC first reported on Wednesday.
Hamza’s death is not confirmed, nor are the circumstances of his death known. The U.S. has also not confirmed his death nor said if the United States played a role in his death. Where or when he might have died is also unknown.
NEW: US has obtained intel that Hamza bin Laden, the son and potential successor of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is dead, according to three US officials. https://t.co/MXiXPIkUZT – @ckubeNBC pic.twitter.com/Vd2SjIMUiN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 31, 2019
The U.S. State Department in March had offered a $1 million reward for any information on Hamza’s whereabouts.
His last public remarks were in March 2018 when he released a statement through Al Qaeda’s media outlet in which he praised the terror group’s efforts in the Arabian Peninsula and called on the people in the region to revolt against Saudi Arabia, according to the United Nations.
Last August, it had been reported that Hamza had married the daughter of one of the lead hijackers in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers confirmed the marriage in an interview with The Guardian. Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas said at the time that Hamza had advanced to a senior position within the terror organization and planned to avenge the death of his father, who was killed in a highly-publicized U.S. military raid in 2011.
Hassan al-Attas had suggested that Hamza should avoid retaking the steps of his father.
“When we thought everyone was over this, next thing I knew was Hamza saying ‘I am going to avenge my father.’ I don’t want to go through that again. If Hamza was in front of me now, I would tell him: God guide you. Think twice about what you are doing. Don’t retake the steps of your father. You are entering really negative and horrible parts of your soul,” Hassan al-Attas had said.
In November 2017, the CIA released hundreds of thousands more documents that were seized in the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound in Pakistan.
There were nearly 470,000 new documents on the CIA’s website, including Bin Laden’s journal, personal videos of his son Hamza bin Laden’s wedding, Bin Laden family photographs and written insights into al Qaeda’s leadership.
There were also documents about the Illuminati, and pirated video games and anime. Other movies on bin Laden’s hard drive included “Tom and Jerry,” “The Pink Panther,” “Sex Crimes and the Vatican” and the viral YouTube video “Charlie Bit My Finger.”
