Reports: Hamza bin Laden Killed in Operation Involving US

Osama bin Laden's son Hamza. File photo
Osama bin Laden's son Hamza. File photo
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Reports: Hamza bin Laden Killed in Operation Involving US

Osama bin Laden's son Hamza. File photo
Osama bin Laden's son Hamza. File photo

Osama bin Laden's son Hamza, chosen heir to the leadership of al-Qaeda, has been killed, American officials said Wednesday.

Questioned by reporters in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump did not confirm or deny the matter.

"I don't want to comment on it," he said.

But US media, including the New York Times, quoted officials as saying that they had confirmation Hamza bin Laden was killed during the last two years in an operation involving the United States.

Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces who raided his compound in Pakistan in 2011. Hamza was thought to be in Iran at the time, and documents recovered from the compound indicated that aides had been trying to reunite him with his father.

In February, the State Department said it was offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading "to the identification or location in any country" of Hamza, calling him a key al-Qaeda leader.



Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he was counting on his new incoming government to take measures to boost the proportion of weapons made at home to 50% within six months.

Zelenskiy has carried out a political reshuffle this week, nominating as his new prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the driving force behind a minerals deal with the United States. Outgoing prime minister Denys Shmyhal has been put forward as the new defense minister.

The nominations, which require parliamentary approval, came as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia, now in its fourth year, have stalled and as Ukraine seeks to revive its cash-strapped economy and build up a domestic arms industry.

Zelenskiy said he, Shmyhal and outgoing defense minister Rustem Umerov had decided at a meeting on Wednesday that the defense ministry would have "greater influence in the domain of arms production".

"Ukrainian-made weapons now make up about 40% of those used at the front and in our operations," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "This is already significantly more than at any time in our country's independence. The production volumes are truly large, but we need more.

"Our goal is to reach 50% Ukrainian-made weaponry within the first six months of the new government, by expanding our domestic production. I am confident this is achievable, though not easy."

Zelenskiy has long stressed the importance of boosting domestic production of weapons and developing joint production of weaponry with Ukraine's Western partners.

It has focused on drone production and on providing air defenses to withstand intensifying Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelenskiy has in recent weeks stressed the importance of developing drone interceptors as a rational way of tackling swarms of drones.

Kyiv's military authorities last week announced the allocation of $6.2 million for a drone interceptor program to defend the capital's skies from Russian drones.