Bin Laden's son killed by Hellfire missile in Pakistan

NPR:

U.S. officials believe Saad bin Laden — a son of Osama bin Laden — has been killed by an American missile in Pakistan.

Saad bin Laden reportedly spent years under house arrest in Iran before traveling last year to Pakistan, according to former National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.

It's believed he was killed by Hellfire missiles fired from a U.S. Predator drone sometime this year.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official tells NPR that without a body to conduct DNA tests on, it's hard to be completely sure. But he characterized U.S. spy agencies as being "80 to 85 percent" certain that Saad bin Laden is dead.

The U.S. counterterrorism official says Saad bin Laden wasn't important enough to target personally — that he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

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I suspect he was important to his dad. He was at least a mid level figure in al Qaeda and because of who his dad is, he probably had more responsibility than the average jihadi. Shortly after the war began in Afghanistan Saad bin Laden fled to Iran and was held in custody there for several years. The circumstances of his release have not come to my attention, but it appears he headed back to Pakistan where he met his demise.

Bill Roggio has more on the Saad demise. He says the son was a fairly senior commander who facilitated messages between Zawahiri and the Iranian Qods force.