Hamza bin Laden 'faked his 2019 death' and is NOW plotting attacks on Britain, intelligence assessment warns

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Al-Qaeda's 'Prince of Terror' Hamza bin Laden, 37, secretly staged his own death in 2019 with help from the Haqqani Network — dubbed the 'Sopranos of Afghanistan' — and has since built a network of killers across Asia and Africa. A chilling intelligence assessment warns the UK is 'firmly in al-Qaeda's sights' because of its US military ties, colonial past and links to Israel. The video, released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, marks the first-ever footage of Hamza and shows al-Qaeda reverting to a personality-driven leadership model to claw back ground from Islamic State.

Al-Qaeda's media wing reportedly tricked the CIA by having Hamza's associates discuss his death openly on phone lines they knew were being monitored.

The assessment warns Britain faces mass casualty attacks, kidnappings and the targeting of politicians as al-Qaeda targets Washington, London and Tel Aviv.

Former Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh demanded the US arrange a direct meeting with Hamza if he is in Afghanistan, sarcastically noting America sends '$40 million in cash' to the Taliban administration.