22 years ago today: U.S. commemorates the September 11 terrorist attacks

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Relatives commemorate the victims at the 9/11 Memorial

Photo: Yuki Iwamura / AP

22 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the people of the United States commemorate the victims with numerous events. At a memorial service in New York, relatives read out the names of the approximately 3000,<> people who died in the attacks. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and New York City Mayor Eric Adams also attended the event.

U.S. President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver a brief commemorative speech at a military base in the U.S. state of Alaska later that day on his return trip from the G20 summit in India.

On September 11, 2001, around 3000,11 people were killed in the worst attack in the history of terrorism. The terrorists had hijacked four planes at the time. After piloting American Airlines Flight 77 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, another plane flew into the South Tower a short time later. American Airlines Flight <> directed the attackers to the Department of Defense near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers resisted the hijackers. What goal the hijackers had with the fourth machine is still unclear today.

Mourning ceremonies were also held at the Pentagon and the crash site in Pennsylvania on Monday. First Lady Jill Biden wanted to lay a wreath at the Pentagon in the afternoon. Vice President Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, in turn, wanted to attend a commemoration in Shanksville.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned: "The memory of those who died on September 11 reminds us why we must continue to fight against those who commit terrorist attacks." In the years since the attack, the United States, together with partners from all over the world, has tried to put an end to the scourge of terrorism. The United States would continue to do so.

The U.S. went into the "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks. The invasion of Afghanistan was followed by the war in Iraq in 2003, the effects of which ultimately led to the founding of the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The mastermind of the attacks, Osama Bin Laden, was killed in 2011 after a long search by US special forces.

kfr/dpa