Hamza bin Laden, the son of slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the leader of the hijackers who carried out the deadly 9/11 terror attacks in the US, according to a media report which quoted Osama’s family.

Western intelligence agencies have been increasingly focusing on the whereabouts of Hamza over the past two years, seeing him as more likely than anyone else to galvanise followers.

Hamza, 29, son of one of Osama’s three surviving wives, Khairiah Sabar, has assumed a senior position within al-Qaida and aims to avenge the death of his father, who was shot dead during a covert US military raid in Pakistan’s Abbottabad seven years ago, Osama’s halfbrothers Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas were quoted as saying. “We have heard he (Hamza) has married the daughter of Atta,” said al-Attas. “We’re not sure where he is, but it could be Afghanistan.” 

Western intelligence agencies have been increasingly focusing on the whereabouts of Hamza over the past two years, seeing him as more likely than anyone else to galvanise followers. His marriage to Atta’s daughter appears to confirm that the 9/11 alumni remain a central hub of al-Qaida and that the organisation itself continues to be organised around Osama’s legacy, the report added.