President Donald Trump on Saturday said late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden had been “killed in a United States counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region.”
According to CNN, he did not give a time period for the operation or the death.
“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,” the President said in the statement.
Trump also said “Hamza bin Ladin was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups.”
The confirmation came over one month after United States intelligence agencies warned of a possible retaliation from al-Qaeda following the then purported death of Hamza.
UK Mirror quoted a security sources as saying: “There is a strong will still out there for another 9/11 so the bin Laden nightmare is far from over – even though it is likely the founder’s only possible terrorist heir has been killed.”
The source described Hamza as inexperienced “operationally” but added that he was as “irresistible” as “a scion of the most famous terror mastermind the world has known”.
The source added that the world’s number one terrorist, Bin Laden hoped that his son would someday “take up the challenge of leading al-Qaeda so he could not be allowed by the West to rally support for a new and more dangerous al-Qaeda.”
