New York: Twenty-five years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the events of that day remain among the most devastating moments in modern history. The attacks killed 2,977 people, excluding the 19 hijackers, and fundamentally changed global security and US foreign policy.
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four commercial aircraft. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, while another struck the Pentagon near Washington. The fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane.
The plot had been developing for years. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda had previously been linked to attacks including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was later identified as the principal architect of the 9/11 operation.
The hijackers came from different backgrounds. Four were trained as pilots, while the remaining 15 were described as “muscle hijackers”, whose role was to overpower passengers and crew. Several of them had travelled through countries including the UAE before entering the United States.
Some hijackers had also triggered security alerts before boarding their flights. Mohamed Atta was flagged at an airport in Maine, while others triggered alarms at Washington Dulles. However, they were still allowed to board after additional security checks.
In the months before the attacks, US intelligence agencies had received several warnings about a possible al-Qaeda operation. By the summer of 2001, officials believed the threat was becoming increasingly serious. On August 6, President George W. Bush received a briefing titled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.”
On the morning of September 11, Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46am. Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03am. Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37am, while Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania at 10:03am after passengers fought back.
The South Tower collapsed at 9:59am, followed by the North Tower at around 10:28am. World Trade Center 7 later collapsed at 5:20pm after sustaining damage and prolonged fires.
Bin Laden remained at large for nearly a decade. US intelligence eventually traced one of his couriers to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. On May 2, 2011, US special operations forces raided the compound and killed the al-Qaeda leader.
Twenty-five years later, 9/11 continues to shape international security, counterterrorism policies and the geopolitical landscape.
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