September 11

The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were a very sad and scary terrorist attack that happened in 2001, when George W Bush was president.

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The Attack

Osama bin Laden, the leader of a terrorist group called al Qaeda, was in charge of the attack. Bin Laden had declared a holy war against the United States because he did not like their policies in the Middle East. He was protected by Afghanistan.

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The terrorists hijacked 4 airplanes. Two of the planes were forced to crash into the Twin Towers in New York City. 1 plane was forced to crash into the Pentagon, and passengers tried to retake a plane and it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

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The attacks

​The Twin Towers

​The Pentagon

At first, the Twin Towers had a big fire. Firefighters rushed into the building to help. But then the fire and crash caused both towers to fall down.

The Twin Towers

​In the end, 2,750 people died in New York. 184 died at the Pentagon, and 40 died in Pennsylvania. It is the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in US history. There is now a memorial in New York City to remember the people who died.

​​Loss

After the attacks, George W Bush said Afghanistan had to give the US Osama bin Laden and it had to quit training terrorists. When the Taliban (the group in charge of Afghanistan) refused, the US declared war. This war is called the War on Terror and it lasted for 20 years.

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War on Terror