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Wed, Dec 25, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 24, 1446 | DXB
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Chilling photos of Bin Laden's wife, family
Bin Laden's three wives and two daughters lived with him in the Abbottabad hideout
As we mark the five-year anniversary of the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, take a look at some of the rare pictures of his family.
- By
- Curated by Nilanjana Gupta (Senior Web Journalist / Videographer)
Once America's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden used to wear a cowboy hat and go around his compound in Pakistan, wondering whether to trim the surrounding poplar trees because spies might use them. Hard to picture this?
There are many such lesser known facts about the Al Qaeda leader that will take you by surprise.
Bin Laden married five times, but when he fled to Pakistan in 2002, he was accompanied by just three wives, including his youngest - and reportedly his favourite - Amal. He spent his last weeks in a house in Abbottabad. The compound was a crowded place, with 28 residents - including bin Laden, his three wives, eight of his children and five of his grandchildren.
On the top floor, he shared his bedroom with his wife Amal. The others crammed into the three-story villa compound.
A passport photo of Osama bin Laden's youngest wife, Amal Ahmed Al Sadah, published by The News, a Pakistani newspaper
As reported by Associated Press, his children ranged in age from his 24-year-old son Khaled, who was killed in the raid, to a 3-year-old born during their time in Abbottabad.
These chilling details came from Brig. Shaukat Qadir, a retired Pakistani army officer who was reportedly given rare access to transcripts of Pakistani intelligence's interrogation of bin Laden's youngest wife, who was detained in the raid.
Qadir told AP:
"Bin Laden's youngest wife, Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah Al Sada, a Yemeni was 19 when she married the Al Qaeda leader in 1999. "
On his last day, Amal was with him, according to a leaked Pakistani judicial commission report. When she saw a SEAL pointing his weapon at the terror chief, she rushed at him as the man shouted "No! No!" and shot her in the knee.
It was earlier reported that a fight between the youngest and eldest bride of the Al Qaeda leader ensued in a Pakistan prison after his death. Amal, 29, alleged that the eldest bride, Khairiah, 61, had betrayed Osama by leaking details of his whereabouts to the US authorities. They were pulled apart by the prison staff and later guards were ordered to make sure their paths don't cross again.
Following Osama's death, they were both taken in custody in Islamabad along with his third wife and eight of Bin Laden's 20 children.
Nothing has been heard from them since, though it is believed Amal was sent on to Yemen with her five young children.
His family in pictures
(Images from Omar bin Laden's family photo collection)
Omar bin Laden is the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden's 20 known children. He writes in his book 'Growing Up bin Laden', that his childhood was marked by regular beatings and survivalist training. Omar is the son reportedly most opposed to his father's violence.
Osama's son Omar posed for the camera during the time his family lived in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1994.
Omar holds his son Ahmed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2005.
56-year old Zaina, wife of Bin Laden's son, Omar
This is Abdullah bin Laden, the eldest son of Osama bin Laden and his first wife Najwa. He reportedly held the most honoured position of all his siblings. In this picture he is seen working on his father's backhoe in Sudan in 1993.
Osama's children - Sa'ad, Osman and Mohammed bin Laden.
Osama's children - Fatima, Sa'ad, Omar, Mohammed, Osman and Abdul Rahman. It is said that Osama's first daughter, Fatima married a Saudi fighter when she was 12 who died in the American attacks on Afghanistan two years later.
The compound was destroyed later to prevent it from becoming a pilgrimage.
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