Defense secretary confirms reports that Osama bin Laden's son and heir apparent has been killed

The U.S. Secretary of Defense has confirmed that Hamza bin Laden, the heir apparent leader of al Qaeda, has been killed.

What's the background?

Osama bin Laden, the notorious terrorist leader behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had at least 20 children by several women.

In March, the State Department published a news release offering "a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the identification or location in any country of al-Qa'ida (AQ) key leader Hamza bin Laden."

In the same news release, the State Department said that Hamza bin Laden was "emerging as a leader in the AQ [al Qaeda] franchise." He had also called "on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by U.S. service members."

What happened now?

Since July 31, there have been news reports that Hamza bin Laden was killed, but neither the military nor the Trump administration would give any definitive statement on the record confirming this.

President Donald Trump had said, "I don't want to comment on it" when he was asked earlier this month.

But on Wednesday night, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Fox News that the reports were true.

"That's my understanding," he said.

Esper would not elaborate on whether or not Hamza bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces, or by someone else.

"I don't have the details on that. And if I did, I'm not sure how much I could share with you," he said.