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US President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that Hamza bin Laden, the son of slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, was killed in an American counter-terrorism operation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The confirmation of Hamza’s death has come more than a month after the US media reported that he was killed, citing the US intelligence officials. “Hamza bin Laden, the high-ranking al-Qaeda member and son of Osama bin Laden, was killed in a United States counter-terrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region,” Trump said in a statement.
However, the US President did not specify the exact place where he was killed and under what circumstances. “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,” Trump said.
“Hamza bin Laden was responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups,” he added. Hamza’s last known public statement was released by al-Qaeda’s media arm in 2018. In that message he had threatened Saudi Arabia and called on the people of the Arabian peninsula to revolt. Saudi Arabia stripped him of his citizenship in March this year.
Reports about the death of Hamza, who according to The New York Times was not older than 30 years, first surface in late July and early August.
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