The 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda

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 laws and want to replace them with the religious law, known as Sharia law.

The network uses violent attacks such as suicide bombings to frighten people and express their rejection of Western involvement in the Middle East. Their declared goal is to eliminate all external influences from Musl...