Ideological goal of masterminds behind 9/11 has failed – Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan issued a statement on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

“20 years ago, around 3000 people were killed as a result of the explosions of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. While looking back, we can state that the ideological goal of the masterminds of the terrorist act carried out against the US failed. Those who conducted the crime on the 11th day of the 9th month failed to undermine the citizens’ trust in 911 service. Regrettably, after the terrorist acts in the US we are witnessing numerous acts of terrorism and loss of human lives. Armenia has joined the global agenda of counter-terrorism and making the world more secure. The prevention of the universal evil is a top priority. We pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the disaster the humankind faced,” Simonyan said.

TheSeptember 11 attacks, often referred to as9/11, were a series of four coordinatedterrorist attacksby the militant Islamist terrorist groupal-Qaeda against theUnited States of Americaon the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

On that morning, four commercialairlinerstraveling from thenortheastern United StatestoCaliforniawerehijackedmid-flight by19 al-Qaeda terrorists.

The first plane to hit its target wasAmerican Airlines Flight 11.It was flown into the North Tower of theWorld Trade Centercomplex inLower Manhattanat 8:46 am. Minutes later, the World Trade Center's South Tower was hit byUnited Airlines Flight 175. Both 110-story towerscollapsedwithin an hour and forty-two minutes, leading to the collapse of the other World Trade Center structures including7 World Trade Center, and significantly damaging surrounding buildings.

A third flight,American Airlines Flight 77, flown fromDulles International Airport, was hijacked overOhio. At 9:37 am, it crashed into the west side ofthe Pentagon inArlington County, Virginia, causing a partial collapse of the building's side. The fourth, and final flight,United Airlines Flight 93, was flown in the direction ofWashington, D.C.The plane's passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft away from the hijackers and ultimately diverted the flight from its intended target; it crashed into a field nearShanksville, Pennsylvaniaat 10:03 am. Investigators determined that Flight 93's target was either theWhite Houseor theU.S. Capitol.

2977 people were killed and more than 6000 wounded in the 9/11 attacks.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan