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Sources used in this answer
- American Airlines flight 11: Top Questions
- What Were the September 11 Attacks?
- Who Planned the September 11 Attacks?
- September 11 attacks - The plot
- war on terrorism
- How Many People Were Killed in the September 11 Attacks?
- September 11 attacks: Top Questions
- 26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History - 2000s: September 11 Attacks (2001)
How were the September 11 attacks carried out?
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terrorism
Rescue workers evacuating the bodies of victims of a terrorist train bombing near Atocha Station, Madrid, March 11, 2004.
The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks carried out by 19 terrorists associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. The operation was masterminded by Osama bin Laden, with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed serving as the primary operational planner who conceived the tactic of using hijacked commercial airplanes as weapons to strike significant U.S. sites.1234
The hijackers, many of whom received commercial flight training in the United States, executed the plot by hijacking four passenger aircraft:234
- American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 were flown into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, respectively.12
- American Airlines flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.25
- United Airlines flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers; the plane was believed to be targeting the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.25
All 19 hijackers died during the attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 2,977 victims.235