Twenty years ago on this day ( September 11, 2001 ), al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four US passenger planes and crashed two of them into two New York skyscrapers and one into the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people in the US. Led by Osama bin Laden , al-Qaeda planned the operation from Afghanistan, blaming the US and allied involvement for conflicts in the Muslim world.
Out of the four, one plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers tried to regain control of the plane and rushed the cockpit. Thousands more were injured, while many others developed health problems linked to the attacks in the years that followed. Among them were firefighters who worked through the toxic debris left behind. Fifteen came from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt, and one from Lebanon. The operation was orchestrated by al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who targeted the US over its support for Israel, role in the Persian Gulf War and the continued presence of its military in West Asia. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a member of the group, allegedly came up with the plan and helped find and recruit the men who would fly the planes. Some of the pilots later received training in the US. He was ultimately sent to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he has remained. He was eventually transferred to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he remains in custody. One of the key issues has been whether his treatment while held by the US could affect the use of evidence in the case.
Nineteen hijackers carried out the September 11 attacks, including 15 from Saudi Arabia. The attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 people. All 19 hijackers were members of al-Qaeda and were divided among the four planes. Proceedings against Mohammed over his alleged involvement in the September 11 attacks have been delayed for years.
Here’s the full list of 19 hijackers responsible for the attack: In 2007, Mohammed said he planned the attack “from A to Z”, according to a transcript of a military hearing later released by the Pentagon.
He remained at large for about a decade and continued to release messages from hiding. He is accused of planning and overseeing the operation to hijack commercial aircraft and crash them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The US launched its invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, ousting the Taliban from power and forcing al-Qaeda out of the base it had established there. US special forces eventually tracked him to a compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad, where he was killed during a raid in 2011. He worked with Osama bin Laden to plan the 9/11 attacks and was later among the most wanted terrorists by the US. The Egyptian doctor became al-Qaeda’s leader after bin Laden was killed in 2011. The US killed Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has described himself as the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
In January 2025, Mohammed and two other defendants were expected to plead guilty in return for life sentences without parole, which would have spared them the death penalty. The agreement was dropped in July 2025 after objections from the US government. His trial, along with that of three co-accused, is now scheduled for June 2028. His case was separated from Mohammed’s in 2023 after a military judge found him mentally unfit to face trial.
He remains in US custody and is among the four defendants due to face trial alongside Mohammed in 2028. Both are due to stand trial alongside Mohammed in 2028. Walid bin Attash is accused of teaching two of the hijackers how to fight at close range, including how to use box cutters while taking control of the aircraft. Ramzi bin al-Shibh is accused of helping recruit some of the hijackers who were part of a cell based in Hamburg, Germany. He is also accused of acting as a link between lead hijacker Mohammed Atta and al-Qaeda’s senior leadership. Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi, who is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are both accused of arranging money transfers for some of the hijackers.
