Today marks 23 years since the terrorist attacks on the United States of America, in which about 3,000 people died, while more than 25,000 were injured.
The terrorist attack on the towers of the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon building was carried out by members of Al Qaeda with hijacked passenger planes.
Nineteen members of Al Qaeda broke into the cabins of four passenger planes and, using paper knives as weapons, took control.
Photo: Britannica
An American Airlines plane flew into the north tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, and twenty minutes later a United Airlines plane hit the south tower.
Both twin towers with 110 floors each collapsed in less than two hours, which also caused significant damage to the surrounding buildings.
A third plane hijacked over Ohio crashed into the west side of the Pentagon, causing the building to collapse.
The fourth plane was headed for Washington, but crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers entered the cabin and struggled with the hijackers for control.
2,753 people died in and around the World Trade Center, 184 in the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania.
After the attack, the US officially launched a war against terrorism and pressure on Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, who refused Washington’s request to expel Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11 attack in 2004, citing support for Israel and the presence of the US military in Iraq and Saudi Arabia as a motive.
Seven years later, Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in a raid by US forces.
The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 is among the most significant events that have occurred since the beginning of the 21st century, in terms of the general economic, social, cultural and military consequences that followed in the USA and the rest of the world.
A memorial to the victims was erected on the site of the “twin” towers in New York, and the new World Trade Center was built.
