The U.S. State Department offered a $1 million reward on Thursday for information leading to the arrest of Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden. The reward was offered after intelligence revealed that the son of the former leader and co-founder of Al Qaeda is emerging as a leader of the group.
Hamza has released audio and video messages calling on his supporters to launch terror attacks against the United States and its allies in the West. He has also threatened attacks against the U.S. in retaliation for his father’s May 2011 death by U.S. service members.
Hamza bin Laden was named a “specially designated global terrorist” in January 2017, according to a news release from the State Department. Hamza bin Laden married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in Al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan.
A 2018 United Nations report highlighted that Al-Qaeda propaganda continues to highlight a new generation of potential leaders, such as Hamza bin Laden in an apparent attempt to project a younger image to its sympathizers.
