The 9/11 attacks

Al-Qaeda and its origins

The 9/11 attacks were four terrorist attacks on US soil which took place on September 11, 2001. The attacks, which were attributed to the terrorist network Al-Qaeda, caused about 3,000 casualties and injured around 6,000 people. The United States reacted to the attacks by launching the ‘War on Terror’, which sought to destroy Al-Qaeda and its allies.

Al-Qaeda is an Islamic international terrorist organization formed at the end of the 1980s by a group of Arabs who took part in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The main leader of the group was Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda members are religious fundamentalists, upholding a strict, literal interpretation of religious texts. The members of the group believe that Christians and Jews are working together to destroy the true Islamic faith. They believe killing non-combatants is allowed by their religion. They are against man-made ...