Insight into the life of bin Laden’s son

Mua’az Mohamed

US President Donald Trump announced on August 14 the killing of Hamza, a son of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

He said Hamza was killed during a US counterterrorism operation in an area on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He expected the killing of bin Laden’s son to negatively affect the operational capabilities of al-Qaeda in the future.

Trump said Hamza used to liaise between al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

A million dollars

In February this year, the US pledged a million dollars to whoever provides information about the hiding place of bin Laden’s son.

Saudi Arabia then stripped Hamza of its nationality. In early August 2019, US intelligence officials said Hamza was killed. They did not, however, provide any information about the place or the date of Hamza’s killing.

Trump and his former national security advisor, John Bolton, refused to answer questions by journalists on the issue.

Nonetheless, on September 14, Trump referred to the place where Hamza was killed.

Who is he?

Hamza was born somewhere between 1986 and 1989, according to the US Department of State.

He is the fifteenth child of bin Laden who has 20 children in all. He spent most of his childhood in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This was the same city where his father was killed in 2011 by special US combat troops.

Hamza got married to a daughter of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, a senior commander of al-Qaeda. Some of bin Laden’s relatives told the British newspaper, The Guardian, in 2018 that Hamza also got married to a daughter of Mohamed Atta, one of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

Hamza is believed to have been beside his father ahead of the 9/11 attacks. He spent some time with him in Pakistan after the US occupied Afghanistan, according to US think tank Brookings Institute.

Bin Laden’s eldest son, Saad, who was groomed to succeed his father at the top of al-Qaeda, was killed during an airstrike in Pakistan in 2009. He was in his thirties.

All eyes then started looking at Hamza. Bin Laden revealed in some of the letters he wrote that he prepared Hamza to succeed him and avenge his brother’s killing.

Terrorism crown prince

In early 2017, the CIA found a tape of Hamza’s wedding. It was one of 470,000 tapes found in bin Laden’s accommodation after his killing.

The US intelligence then called Hamza “Terrorism crown prince”. CIA officers read in bin Laden’s letters that he wanted Hamza to study theology in Qatar so that he can counter suspicions on jihad (holy war).