US offers up to a $1 million reward to find Hamza bin Laden

"Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former AQ leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise," a US State Department statement said, referring to Al-Qaeda.

An undated file video grab released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on November 1, 2017 and taken by researchers from the Federation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal, shows an image from the wedding of killed Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza.
AFP

An undated file video grab released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on November 1, 2017 and taken by researchers from the Federation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal, shows an image from the wedding of killed Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza.

The US on Thursday offered up to $1 million for information leading to the identification or whereabouts of Osama bin Laden's son.

The State Department described Hamza bin Laden as a "key leader" within al Qaeda who is growing in prominence within the US-designated terror group.

The junior bin Laden has 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 US forces, the department said in a statement.

Osama bin Laden was killed that year in a covert operation carried out in Abbottabad, Pakistan at a compound where the al-Qaeda leader was holed up.

Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 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 US in January 2017, prohibiting US individuals from conducting transactions with him.

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