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The '''Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001''' occurred when [[al Qaeda]] [[Islam|Islamic extremists]] hijacked four transcontinental airliners and used them to strike targets in the [[United States]]; two aircraft destroyed the twin towers of the [[World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]]; the third crashed into a portion of the [[Pentagon]] in Washington, D.C.; and the fourth aircraft - in which the hijackers are believed to have targeted the White House or the Capitol Building - crashed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought back to re-take control.

The '''Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001''' occurred when [[al Qaeda]] [[Islam|Islamic extremists]] hijacked four transcontinental airliners and used them to strike targets in the [[United States]]; two aircraft destroyed the twin towers of the [[World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]]; the third crashed into a portion of the [[Pentagon]] in Washington, D.C.; and the fourth aircraft - in which the hijackers are believed to have targeted the White House or the Capitol Building - crashed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought back to re-take control.

There was also plans for a fifth attack in England targeting either Parliament or Big Ben, although because of time zone differences, London found out about the attacks from 9/11 and made sure to lock down the airports and eventually apprehend the ones intending to conduct the attacks.<ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/06/11/uk.attacks/index.html</ref>

There was also plans for a fifth attack in England targeting either Parliament or Big Ben, although because of time zone differences, London found out about the attacks from 9/11 and made sure to lock down the airports and eventually apprehend the ones intending to conduct the attacks.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/06/11/uk.attacks/index.html Big Ben 'was September 11 target'], ''CNN'', June 12, 2002</ref>

The sheer audacity of the attack and the heavy loss of life that resulted from it caused the U.S. government to declare a [[War on Terror]] with the determination to hunt down terrorists worldwide; within two months of September 11, [[Afghanistan]] was completely occupied by Coalition forces, driving the ruling Islamo-fascist [[Taliban]] from power and causing the head of [[al Qaeda]] and the man who personally approved the attacks - [[Osama bin Laden]] - to flee into hiding before being killed in [[Pakistan]] in 2011, some 10 years after the attack.

The sheer audacity of the attack and the heavy loss of life that resulted from it caused the U.S. government to declare a [[War on Terror]] with the determination to hunt down terrorists worldwide; within two months of September 11, [[Afghanistan]] was completely occupied by Coalition forces, driving the ruling Islamo-fascist [[Taliban]] from power and causing the head of [[al Qaeda]] and the man who personally approved the attacks - [[Osama bin Laden]] - to flee into hiding before being killed in [[Pakistan]] in 2011, some 10 years after the attack.