Millions of US citizens commemorated the unprecedented attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington. 23 years after the aircraft attacks on the World Trade Center in the US east coast metropolis and the Pentagon in the American capital, survivors and relatives of the almost 3,000 victims gathered on Wednesday at the so-called Ground Zero in Manhattan.
At a memorial service in New York attended by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the names of the victims were traditionally read out. A bell was rung at the time the planes hit the towers. “On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong. In the darkest hours, we found light,” Biden said. Harris swore in a statement that the attacks had shown that “unity in America is possible.”
A touch of election campaign
At the event, the presidential candidate met her Republican opponent Donald Trump, who had also traveled to the meeting place with his running mate JD Vance, just one day after the big TV debate. TV images showed the two shaking hands and then standing in a row with other dignitaries during the ceremony. The US will vote on November 5th.
Terrorists hijacked four planes
On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in the worst attack in the history of terrorism. Jihadists hijacked four planes. After they flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center, another plane flew into the south tower a short time later.
The attackers diverted American Airlines Flight 77 to the Defense Department near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers resisted the hijackers. It is still unclear what the hijackers’ goal was with the fourth plane.
The victims will also be remembered at the Pentagon and in Shanksville. Biden and Harris announced that they would travel to both locations on the same day and lay memorial wreaths there.
After the attacks of September 11, the USA entered the “war on terror”. The invasion of Afghanistan was followed in 2003 by the war in Iraq, the effects of which ultimately led to the founding of the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was killed by US special forces in 2011 after a long search.
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