TWO AND A HALF DECADES SINCE TERRORIST ATTACK ON AMERICA

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 11 /SRNA/ - Today in 2001, terrorist attacks were carried out against the United States, which killed around 3,000 people, injuring more than 25,000.

According to official reports, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre towers in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington was carried out by Al Qaeda members using hijacked passenger aircraft. Nineteen Al Qaeda members entered the cockpits of four passenger planes and, using paper knives as weapons, took control of the aircraft. An American Airlines plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and about 20 minutes later, a United Airlines plane struck the south tower. Both twin towers, each 110 stories high, collapsed in less than two hours, causing considerable damage to surrounding buildings as well. The third aircraft, hijacked over Ohio, crashed into the western side of the Pentagon and caused part of the building to collapse. The fourth aircraft was flying toward Washington, but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers entered the cockpit and fought the hijackers for control of the plane. A total of 2,753 people were killed at the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania. Following the attacks, the US officially launched the war on terrorism and put pressure on Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, who had refused Washington's demand to expel Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks in 2004, citing support for Israel and the presence of US forces in Iraq and Saudi Arabia as motives. Seven years later, Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in a raid carried out by US forces. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack was one of the events that marked the beginning of the 21st century, given the broad economic, social, cultural and military consequences that followed in the US and the rest of the world. A memorial to the victims was erected at the site of the twin towers in New York, and new World Trade Centre buildings were also constructed.