Washington. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Al-Qaeda's official media wing As-Sahab has released a video of Hamza bin Laden. Hamza was the son and designated successor of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. The special thing is that in 2019, the news of Hamza being killed in the American anti-terrorism operation near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border came to light. This new video of Hamza has attracted the attention of intelligence experts. The video shows footage of Hamza that was not previously made public.
Pictures of Ayman al-Zawahiri also included in the 50-minute video
The nearly 50-minute long video released by al-Qaeda is titled “Twenty-five years since the September 11 attacks.” It also shows some photographs of slain al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, which had not been revealed before. According to reports, the organization has not yet acknowledged Zawahiri's death nor issued its customary final tribute to him.
Hamza was shown like this
Hamza is seen several times in the video. He is shown sitting in front of a cracked mud wall. He is wearing a traditional white turban and is seen carrying an assault rifle next to him. According to intelligence sources, the presentation of the video has been designed in such a way that it reminds of the ideological past. A source said that there seem to be two objectives behind portraying Hamza in this style – on the one hand, to establish him as his father's successor and on the other hand, to bring out the traditional visual identity of the early global jihad.
1/ 🧵 Al-Qaeda's As-Sahab released a 25th anniversary video, “A Quarter Century of the 11 September Raids (Part One).” It features footage of a man it presents as Hamza bin Laden. He appears 3 times, & how al-Qaeda frames him matters as much as what he says pic.twitter.com/VOmMn7a7MY
—Sarah Harmouch, Ph.D. د.سارة حرموش (@Dr_SaraHarmouch) September 10, 2026
The beginning of the video is also shocking
Interestingly, the video does not begin with footage of any international operation. It begins with historical footage of the September 2014 attack on Karachi's naval dockyard by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. Intelligence sources said such prioritization of a regional operation underlines the influence of Pakistani terrorists in al-Qaeda's central leadership and its propaganda machinery.
Attempt to promote the ideology of the current head of Al-Qaeda
The purpose of the video is to propagate an ideological ideology associated with the current head of al-Qaeda, Saif al-Adl. In this, Bin Laden's name has been used for the purpose of recruitment.