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Updated: Jan 01, 2018 23:20 IST

The 12-year-old grandson of slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has reportedly been killed in an air strike along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to reports on Monday.

Osama bin Hamza bin Laden died sometime last year, according to a leaked letter sent by his father Hamza bin Laden to his family announcing the death, The New Arab, or Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, news website reported.

“The grandson of the martyr, our son Osama…has ascended to the highest paradise of heaven,” said the letter dated in the Islamic month of Dhu al-Qidah, which fell between July and August.

“Tragedies that we meet…such as these only make us stronger and more steadfast,” the letter added, without giving the cause of death.

Terror Monitor, which closely tracks the online activities of jehadi groups, tweeted that al-Qaeda supporters were circulating the letter mourning the death of Hamza bin Laden’s oldest son Osama bin Hamza bin Laden in Afghanistan.

#AlQaeda Supporters Circulating Letter Mourns The Death Of Its Leader Hamza Bin Laden's Oldest Son Osama Bin Hamza Bin Laden (Osama Bin Laden's Grandson) In #Afghanistan. #TerrorMonitor pic.twitter.com/WdJ9l98hOQ — Terrormonitor.org (@Terror_Monitor) January 1, 2018

The Arabic news website Arabi 21 cited jehadi sources and reported that the 12-year-old boy was killed in an air raid on an al-Qaeda base along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Hamza bin Laden has become active as an al-Qaeda propagandist since his father was killed by US special forces in a raid in Pakistan in 2011. In January, the US added Hamza to its terror list.

A vast trove of al-Qaeda documents seized during the raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden was released by the CIA last year. It included the first public images of Hamza as an adult.

Osama bin Laden had been grooming Hamza, his favourite son, as a possible heir.