Agencies-Gaza post
Sep 11 attacks anniversary… without Ayman al-Zawahiri
Dohaa Baker
As the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks marked today, security authorities in the United States have warned that foreign terrorist organizations may take advantage of recent events, such as the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, in celebrations and messages surrounding the anniversary of the attacks.
According to a joint intelligence bulletin by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center obtained by CNN, al-Qaeda and its supporters typically seek to commemorate the September 11 attacks, and have featured content celebrating the attack as “successful” and praising the attackers and the leadership of the 9/11 attacks. The organization encourages its followers to carry out similar attacks.
The attacks occurred after 19 men were kidnapped and four US commercial airliners laden with fuel bound for destinations on the West Coast. The attacks were orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, the then al-Qaeda leader.
At the World Trade Center site in Manhattan, New York, 2,753 people were killed as a result of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 deliberately crashing into the North and South Towers, among those who died during the initial attacks and subsequent collapses of the towers, were 343 firefighters, and 23 police officers and 37 Port Authority officers.
The ages of the victims ranged between two and 85 years. Approximately 75-80% of the victims were men.
At the Pentagon in Washington, 184 people died when kidnapped American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 were killed when the plane crashed into a field.
It is believed that the hijackers crashed the plane at that location instead of their unknown target after the passengers and crew tried to regain control of the plane.
