Osama Bin Laden's family dead or alive? Where are his children and wives now? A Look at their lives post Operation Neptune Spear

India.com

19-05-2025

New Delhi: 'Osama bin Laden—also known as Usama bin Laden—is a name synonymous with crime, bloodshed, and mass murder, who used bombings and other means to advance his extremist goals. The founder of the world's most bloodthirsty terror group, Al Qaeda, Osama planned a series of attacks in multiple countries that killed thousands of men, women, and children, often ordinary citizens just going about their daily lives. Osama, the mastermind of the horrific 9/11 attacks, was killed by US Navy SEALs on May 1, 2011, during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The death of the terrorist leader may have marked the end of a grim chapter in the history of the extremist group he led, but it also raised haunting questions: What became of the women and children who were with him in his final hours? Where are the wives who witnessed his last moments, and what fate awaits the family now burdened with exile, secrecy, and an enduring legacy of infamy?
According to the reports, three of Osama bin Laden's wives, Amal Ahmed al-Sadah (Amal Abdulfattah), Khairiah Sabar, and Siham Sabar, were present in the Abbottabad compound with him on the night of May 1, 2011 when he was killed.
During the raid, Osama's youngest wife and a Yemeni national, Amal Abdulfattah, was shot and wounded by US forces. The young woman had insisted on staying by her husband's side, even when Osama commanded the family to go downstairs. Her son, Hussein, sat next to her as his father was gunned down in front of them.
Osama's other two wives, Khairiah Sabar and Siham Sabar, along with their 11 children, were detained by Pakistani authorities. All of them were held under house arrest in a 'sub-jail'. It was nearly a year later, in April 2012, that the whole family was deported to Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden and his Children: Osama bin Laden reportedly fathered between 20 to 26 children from his four wives.
His first wife, Najwa Ghanem, whom he married in 1974, bore several of his children
Abdallah bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, Saad bin Laden, and Mohammed bin Laden are from his first wife. Others were born to his subsequent wives.
Hamzah bin Laden was seen as the heir who would take over al-Qaeda's leadership after Osama.
According to reports, Hamzah was with his mother, Khairiah, when she joined Osama in Pakistan shortly before the Abbottabad raid.
He was able to escape that night and would later rise through the ranks of al-Qaeda.
Hamzah was later killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation, reportedly between 2017 and 2019.
Osama Bin Laden was born in 1957 in Saudi Arabia and was the son of a wealthy Saudi businessman. Following the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979, bin Laden began providing financial and logistical support to the Islamic fighters battling the Soviets.
After Soviet forces were defeated and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988, bin Laden founded an organization called al Qaeda, or 'the Base,' to continue the cause of jihad (holy war) through violence and aggression.
Al Qaeda soon began raising money, setting up training camps, and providing military and intelligence instruction in such areas as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan. Under bin Laden's direction, al Qaeda started launching attacks and bombings in various nations to further its violent aims. After centering his operations in Sudan in the early 1990s, bin Laden began formulating plans to attack the West with an evolving, deadly new brand of jihad.
Bin Laden and other members of al Qaeda also began issuing fatwas—rulings on Islamic law—indicating that attacks on the U.S. and its citizens were both proper and necessary. Bin Laden later openly declared war on the United States.