Osama bin Laden's son, Hamza, was killed earlier in an operation in which US intelligence played a role, the US-based ABC network quoted US officials as saying. US President Donald Trump declined to comment on a reporter's question.
The killing of 30-year-old Hamza bin Laden, a key al-Qaeda operative, has taken place in the past two years without specifying its date, the New York Times reported, quoting US officials. The two officials said the confirmation of his death took time.
A US official said on Wednesday he expected the US government to issue a statement soon on Hamza bin Laden after NBC earlier quoted three government officials as saying Washington had obtained intelligence that Hamza had died.
Reward
The US State Department announced in February a reward of $ 1 million for information about Hamza, who threatened more than once to strike the United States. Saudi Arabia withdrew the son of Osama bin Laden the following month.
Al-Qaeda's media arm had published in 2018 the latest known statement by bin Laden threatening to target Americans abroad, urging Saudi tribes to join forces with Yemen to fight Riyadh and calling what the people of the Arabian Peninsula called a rebellion.
The whereabouts of the al-Qaeda leader's son were unknown, and he was believed to be under house arrest in Iran, while other reports spoke of his presence in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Syria.
US media say Hamza is bin Laden's fifteenth son from his third wife, the son of choice and successor to Osama bin Laden, whose name is already on the US black list of terrorism suspects.