World's Deadliest Terror Attack: 21 Years Since 9/11

Today marks the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy – a massive terrorist attack which claimed the lives of almost 3,000 and shocked not only the US, but other countries as well.

The hunt for the purported perpetrators – the Al-Qaeda* terrorist group – resulted in the death of their notorious leader Osama bin Laden, as well as in the US military getting stuck-in in Afghanistan for 20 years fighting the Taliban*, only to effectively hand the country back to the group in 2021.

Early in the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda* terrorists split into three groups of five and a group of four hijacked four flights departing from Boston (flights 11 and 175), Newark (flight 93) and Washington Dulles International Airport (flight 77) soon after takeoff. According to what little was reconstructed from the events on board, the hijackers used some kind of spray, possibly pepper spray, and knives to overwhelm, subdue or kill the planes' crewmembers, as well as some passengers.

17 minutes later, flight 175 rammed the South Tower, also starting fires. Following the reports of the first hit, the New York City emergency services deployed up to half of their forces plus off-duty firefighters and medical personnel to rescue people from the towers and nearby buildings.

The damage to the two mega-buildings' structures and the fires weakened the steel beams that were holding them up, resulting in the towers, symbols of US capitalist might, to collapse one after another within half an hour between 9:59 am and 10:28 am. Over 2,600 people died, including tower employees and visitors, as well as emergency services personnel.

As the World Trade Center's towers burnt and the US government and citizens still attempted to comprehend the unfolding events, the third plane, flight 77, tried to ram through the Pentagon, the center that coordinates US military ventures. However, after hitting earth near the ground floor, the Boeing 757 only penetrated the first three outer rings of one of the building's sides, killing 125 people.

The fourth plane did not reach its still-unknown target. Its direction suggested that the terrorists on board were planning to target either the White House or Capitol, with the latter presumed to be the likely goal. However, by the time it approached Washington DC, its passengers, who had tried to reach authorities and relatives by phones, learnt of the other three attacks and attempted to take back control of the plane, according to cockpit automated audio recordings.

Losing control of the situation, flight 93's terrorists intentionally sent the plane into a deep dive, crashing it into Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, along with the 33 passengers and surviving members of the 7-person crew.

Following the attack, Al-Qaeda* took responsibility for the brazen attacks, calling it a revenge for US support of Israel and meddling in the affairs of the Muslim countries. The group was based in Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban* at that time, and led by Osama bin Laden – a member of the wealthy Saudi family.

Despite identifying, locating, capturing or assassinating the key people deemed responsible for orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, as was the case with the murder of Bin Laden on May 2, 2011, the US government never released the documents of the investigations in full. This has prompted harsh criticism from some of the families who lost relatives in the attacks on the twin towers, and who strongly believe that Saudi Arabia funded Al-Qaeda*, making Riyadh partially responsible for the attack. Riyadh, in turn, vehemently denies being involved.

Several US presidents, including incumbent Joe Biden, have pledged to reveal all remaining classified documents, but some material remains hidden from the public eye. This has led to speculation, namely among the plaintiffs in the legal case against the Saudi Arabian government over its alleged funding of the terrorist group, that Washington refuses to unseal the docs out of fear of a diplomatic kickback. Such a turn of events could severely undermine the US' relations with the kingdom, which is known to be one of Washington's strongest allies in the Middle East.