United States marks 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks

The United States on Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and reshaped U.S. security and foreign policy.

Commemorations are taking place at the Pentagon — the Department of Defense building struck by one of the hijacked planes — where the president is expected to attend, and in New York, where relatives of the victims will read aloud the names of those who died at the World Trade Center site.

What happened on September 11, 2001

Nineteen members of the extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners in coordinated suicide attacks. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, one struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted. The attacks killed 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers — victims included citizens of more than 90 countries — and left lasting questions about the intended target of the fourth plane.

The collapse of the 400-metre towers and the fires that followed released a toxic mix of dust, glass fibres, asbestos, pulverised concrete, gypsum board, burnt plastics and other hazardous materials into the surrounding air, rendering the wider area hazardous to health for weeks.

Shortly after the attacks, President George W. Bush addressed the nation from the White House and announced a war on terror. "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our tallest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundations of America. These acts can shatter steel, but they cannot break the steel of American resolve. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them," he said.

In the weeks that followed, the United States changed its military doctrine and launched an international campaign against terrorism. The U.S.-led operation to remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan — Operation Enduring Freedom — began on October 7, 2001, and NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on October 4, 2001, enabling allied participation beyond the Euro-Atlantic region. American forces remained in Afghanistan for roughly 20 years before withdrawing; the Taliban later returned to power.

U.S. forces found and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, during President Barack Obama’s second term. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later led the group, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul in July 2022. Although al-Qaeda’s central leadership has been weakened, affiliates remain active in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

The long-term human cost of the attacks continues to grow. The U.S. government has acknowledged that more people have died from attack-related illnesses than in the initial incidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recorded more than 57,000 cases of cancer linked to the attacks, and many first responders and survivors still suffer chronic conditions tied to the toxic exposure in the weeks after the attacks.

Photo: Архива