According to a report by Daily Mail (UK) on Thursday, September 17, 2026, a new intelligence assessment has claimed that Hamza bin Laden, the eldest son of late al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, allegedly staged his death in 2019 with the assistance of al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network, a powerful Afghan militant organisation reportedly nicknamed the “Sopranos of Afghanistan.”
Hamza, 37, was previously reported to have been killed in a US airstrike in 2019. However, the intelligence assessment cited by the Daily Mail claims that the report of his death was part of an elaborate deception intended to mislead intelligence agencies that were monitoring al-Qaeda.
The assessment alleges that Hamza has since developed a network of militants operating across parts of Asia and Africa and is now associated with plans to carry out attacks against Western targets. It warns that Britain and the United States could face threats including mass-casualty attacks, individual attacks, kidnappings, killings, sabotage and attacks against political or senior public figures.
Hamza was reportedly groomed by former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to eventually assume a leadership position within the organisation. According to the report, after Hamza was supposedly killed, Zawahiri instructed members of his circle to discuss his death openly during telephone conversations. The conversations were allegedly intended to convince intelligence agencies that Hamza had genuinely died.
The alleged deception was reportedly supported by the Haqqani Network, which has significant influence in Afghanistan and maintains connections with the Taliban. The intelligence assessment claims that the strategy succeeded in removing Hamza from active intelligence targeting while he remained under protection.
Following Zawahiri's death in a US airstrike in Kabul in 2022, Hamza allegedly advanced within al-Qaeda's leadership structure. The report claims that he has established militant training facilities in Afghanistan and has developed links with several armed organisations.
The intelligence assessment identifies Britain as a particular target of concern because of its longstanding military relationship with the United States, its historical involvement in the Middle East, its relationship with Israel and its commercial connections with Gulf countries.
It further warns that al-Qaeda's wider network could facilitate attacks across Britain, continental Europe, the United States and other Western interests. Possible threats mentioned include remotely supported attacks, attacks carried out by individuals inspired by extremist propaganda, attacks against aviation and transportation, and assaults on Jewish and Israeli interests.
The assessment also identifies political assassinations, hostage-taking, cyber-enabled activities and the exploitation of tensions arising from conflicts in Gaza and the wider Middle East as possible areas of concern.
According to the report, Hamza's connection to Osama bin Laden gives him particular symbolic importance within al-Qaeda. The intelligence document reportedly describes his family connection as providing a direct link to the organisation's founding ideology.
Before his reported death in 2019, Hamza had allegedly released messages encouraging attacks against the United States and its allies and calling for revenge following his father's death. The new assessment claims that his reported disappearance may therefore have served both operational and symbolic purposes for al-Qaeda.
The report notes that no body was publicly produced after Hamza was said to have been killed in September 2019. It claims that subsequent intelligence suggested telephone conversations involving members of his family were manipulated to strengthen the belief that he was dead.
The Daily Mail report further claims that Hamza was formally appointed al-Qaeda's emir, or chief, on November 14, 2022. The alleged meeting reportedly took place at the rebuilt al-Farooq camp in Kandahar, a facility originally established by his father before it was destroyed.
Representatives linked to the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and militant groups from Africa and Syria were reportedly present at the meeting.
The intelligence assessment concludes that al-Qaeda should not simply be viewed as an organisation from the past. It claims the group still possesses experienced leadership, regional affiliates and an established ideological following, while instability in Afghanistan, the Sahel and the Middle East, as well as online radicalisation, could provide opportunities for further mobilisation.
The assessment says Hamza's alleged reappearance could potentially bring together different elements of al-Qaeda's network and contribute to what it describes as a renewed jihadist threat to Western countries.
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