Osama bin Laden’s eldest grandson thought to be aged 12 is believed to have died, after a letter purportedly sent by the boy’s father was intercepted by international terror monitors.
The father described his son as a “hero cub” and “martyr”. No cause of death was given.
Jihadi sources revealed that the boy died in an air strike on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, other sources, however, stated he died of illness.
Al-Qaeda propaganda arm the Global Islamic Media Front translated the letter to English. It was posted on Twitter by terrorism cyber-monitor Jihadoscope.
Hamza wrote:
“We condole ourselves and you on the martyrdom of our hero cub… the grandson of our bravery.”
His son named after his grandfather “often acted out the image of his martyrdom, lying on the ground, eyes closed and smiling slightly as he played with other children.”
He noted that the boy was “sad to a point we did not expect” at the death of his grandfather, a purveyor of death and the instigator of 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre and the world’s number 1 most wanted terrorist until demise at the hands of US forces in 2011.
Al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned news channel, reported: “the boy’s death at some point last year was most likely due to an illness he caught and not receiving proper medical attention.”
Arabi 21, an Arabic news site claimed he had been killed in an air raid on an al-Qaeda base.
Hamza bin Laden had been added to the US counter-terrorism blacklist last years amid due to fears he was going to be the new leader of Al Qaeda.
He called for jihadis to avenge his father’s death with terror attacks targeting the US in November.