One of the most spectacular attacks in history was the terrorist attack in the United States, in which around 2,976 victims and 19 terrorists died.
The attacks of 11 September 2001, in which 19 people working for al-Qaeda (a network of militant Wahhabi organisations) hijacked four American planes, were coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States and the deadliest ever committed against it. Initially 27 al-Qaeda members tried to enter the US to take part, but only 19 did: one was refused a US visa (Ramzi bin al-Shibh), Mohammed al-Qahtani was refused entry by US immigration at Orlando International Airport, and the others did not manage to join. Zacarias Moussaoui, who was not involved because the al-Qaeda hierarchy doubted his reliability, pleaded guilty in 2005 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Osama bin Laden (a multimillionaire and the leader of al-Qaeda), Ayman al-Zawahiri (the current leader of al-Qaeda, a former member and senior official of Islamist organisations) and several others issued a fatwa (decree) setting out several motives for fighting the United States, accusing it of:
– exploiting and devaluing the resources of the Arabian Peninsula; – dictating the policies of the leaders of those countries; – supporting dictatorial regimes and monarchies in the Middle East and thereby oppressing their populations; – maintaining military bases and installations on the Arabian Peninsula in order to threaten neighbouring Muslim countries; – intending, through its presence, to divide Muslim states and weaken them politically.
The Gulf War and the US sanctions and bombing of Iraq were presented as proof of all these accusations and as sufficient justification for attacks that would hit the US economically, socially, culturally and militarily – but the attacks also had consequences in many other parts of the world.
The attackers turned the hijacked planes into the largest suicide bombs in history.
Two planes hit the World Trade Center (WTC) in Manhattan, New York – one in each tower, 17 minutes apart – after which both towers collapsed. The third plane hit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense in Washington, and the fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania because the passengers fought back against the hijackers. At first, when the first Boeing 767 crashed into the WTC’s North Tower between floors 94 and 98, the event was thought to be a tragic accident; but when, some 25 minutes later, another Boeing 767 crashed into the South Tower between floors 78 and 84, it was clear that this was a terrorist attack, and President George W. Bush called the events a “national tragedy”. After the third plane, a Boeing 757, crashed into the Pentagon, US airspace was cleared and all flights were diverted to Canada. The White House, the State Department and the US Congress were evacuated. As for the fourth plane, it is assumed that the passengers heard about the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon and overpowered the terrorists, causing the plane to crash. When the South Tower collapsed, it buried more than 350 firefighters and 60 police officers who were rescuing people inside. The tower collapsed because the burning jet fuel melted its load-bearing steel structure. The UN building and the New York Stock Exchange were then evacuated. The whole of southern Manhattan was covered in thick smoke after the North Tower collapsed completely. The victims numbered in the thousands: 265 on the four planes; 2,595 at the WTC, including 343 firefighters, 23 New York police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers; and 125 civilians and military personnel at the Pentagon. Besides the WTC towers, five other buildings and four subway stations were destroyed or badly damaged, and communications equipment such as radio, TV and mobile transmitters was put out of action. Around 200 people jumped to their deaths from the WTC in the desperate conditions of smoke and burning jet fuel. Some climbed to the floors above the impact zone hoping to be rescued from the roof by helicopter, but there was no plan for such a rescue. Around 1,366 people were trapped above the impact zone in the North Tower and none of them survived; in the South Tower around 600 were trapped, of whom 18 managed to escape before the tower collapsed. Among the victims were two people from Serbia, Vladimir Tomašević and Bojan Kostić.
As for the fourth plane, it is believed the hijackers intended to hit the Capitol, the White House or Camp David, where President George W. Bush had gone for safety. The black box recording reportedly revealed that two passengers tried to take the plane back from the hijackers, who brought it down after failing to fend them off. The plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Al-Qaeda organiser Khalid Sheikh Mohammed reportedly said that this flight was meant to hit the US Capitol.
Many countries introduced strict anti-terrorism laws and took steps to cut off terrorist financing, including freezing bank accounts suspected of being used to finance terrorism.
In recent times, the frequency and intensity of terrorism and violence represent a major security risk and challenge for the security structures of every country. At the same time, modern terrorism brings a new form of threat to human life, as well as difficulty in predicting how such attacks will be carried out.
Dušanka Mišić, Secretary of CTO Serbia
