An intelligence assessment reportedly claims Hamza bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s eldest son, faked his death in 2019 and has since risen within al-Qaeda. It warns that he may be rebuilding the organisation’s ability to conduct or support attacks against Western targets, including the UK, although the allegations are presented as intelligence claims rather than established facts.

The report says al-Qaeda used telephone conversations and assistance from the Haqqani Network, described as the “Sopranos of Afghanistan”, to convince the CIA that Hamza had been killed. It alleges that he now oversees networks and training camps across Afghanistan, has links to various militant groups, and could enable mass-casualty attacks, kidnappings, assassinations, sabotage, cyber activity and attacks on transport or Jewish and Israeli interests.