Osama's son killed in predator attack?

One of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's son is believed to have been killed by a US missile strike in Pakistan earlier this year, according to a media report.

Saad bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader's third-oldest son, is believed to have been killed by Hellfire missiles fired from a US Predator drone 'sometime this year', National Public Radio reported, quoting unnamed officials.

However, Saad bin Laden, in his late 20s, was not a major Al-Qaeda player.

A US counter-terrorism official said Saad bin Laden was simply 'in the wrong place at the wrong time', having not been important enough to be targeted personally.

A senior US counterterrorism official told NPR that without a body to conduct DNA tests on, 'it is hard to be completely' sure.

'But he characterised US spy agencies as being 80 to 85 per cent certain that Saad bin Laden is dead,' NPR said.

It was not known whether Saad bin Laden was close to the location of his father, who is believed to be hiding in the rugged mountainous tribal belt along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, when he died.