The attack on the USA of September 11, 2001. This year is the 20th anniversary of the memory of the victims. Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States after its first fight against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
Immediately after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, suspicion was directed at al-Qaeda. It was gradually confirmed that an extremist group of Islamists was behind the crime. Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden reaffirmed his role in planning the coup.
"We decided to destroy America's towers, ”Bin Laden said in movie. He also said he wanted to punish the United States and claimed he had come up with the idea of "destroying the towers" in the 80s.
(AP Photo/SCANPIX)
Rich son
Bin Laden came from one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia and was influenced by Islamic fundamentalism since childhood.
In 1979, he left his homeland to take part in the fight against the Soviet forces that invaded Afghanistan. Local Islamists also fought against the Soviets, and Afghan "holy warriors" received support from the United States and several other countries.
The Soviets surrendered and left Afghanistan in 1989. But the subsequent bomber was gradually convinced that the United States also needed to be fought. He demanded the withdrawal of US forces from Saudi Arabia, and in 1996 he declared war on the United States.
Terror in Africa
After several years in Sudan, bin Laden returned to Afghanistan. Here, the training camps were set up by bin Laden and al-Qaeda, which he had previously set up with other Arabs who fought against Soviet forces.
In 1998, al-Qaeda took part in the terrorist attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Two years later, a bomb hit an American warship near Yemen.
Consequently, there were many warnings against the attacks of September 11, 2001. "The attacks came as a shock, but they shouldn't have come as a surprise," the US investigation report said a few years later.
The attack on the USA of September 11, 2001. Almost 3000 killed
19 hijackers took part in a suicide operation in the United States. The hijacked passenger planes flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the fourth plane was likely on its way to the White House or Congress when it crashed.
Almost 3000 people were killed in the attack, which is described as the worst terrorist attack in human history.
Three of the four airline pilots lived in Germany. According to a US investigative report, most of the planning was done by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was originally from Kuwait.
Found in Pakistan
Just a month after the terrorist attack, the United States attacked Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda had training camps. The then Taliban regime was removed from power.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. He was transferred to the US custody and interrogated using methods considered to be torture. He has been detained at the American Guantanamo Bay base since 2006.
Osama bin Laden was also eventually tracked down to Pakistan, where he was killed by US special forces in 2011. After bin Laden's death, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri took over the leadership of al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda weakened
In several videos and statements, bin Laden touched on the motives of the 11/XNUMX attacks. In addition to US forces in Saudi Arabia, he mentioned US support for Israel and US military operations in Muslim countries.
Although al-Qaeda is much weaker today than it was in 2001, the organization still has supporters. Al Qaeda has inspired many other extremist Islamist groups - not only the IS.
The US authorities believe that al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan have so far downplayed their ambitions to attack Western countries. Nevertheless, there is great concern about the further development of the organization now that the Taliban is back in power in Afghanistan.
(©NTB)
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