US has intel Osama bin Laden's son has died: reports

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. has intelligence indicating that the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's son, Hamza, has died, according to multiple reports published Wednesday.

NBC News broke the story, citing three anonymous government officials who would not specify where or when Hamza bin Laden died or if the U.S. had any role in his death. But The New York Times later reported that the U.S. had a role in his death, though what form that took remains unclear.

The White House did not immediately reply to multiple requests for comment from Anadolu Agency, and President Donald Trump declined to comment on the matter when asked by reporters.

The junior bin Laden has been a rising star in his father's al-Qaeda terrorist network.

He released audio and video messages on the internet calling for attacks against the West and has threatened revenge for his father's 2011 killing by U.S. forces, the State Department said in a statement announcing a $1 million reward for information on Hamza in February.

Osama bin Laden was killed that year in a covert operation carried out in Abbottabad, Pakistan at a compound where he was holed up.

Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York's Twin Towers as well as the attack that day on the Pentagon.

Those attacks were carried out using three passenger planes hijacked by al-Qaeda operatives. A fourth plane, bound for either the White House or the Capitol, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake it from the hijackers.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day, including citizens of roughly 77 countries.

Hamza bin Laden was designated a global terrorist by the U.S. in January 2017, prohibiting U.S. individuals from conducting transactions with him.