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9/11: The al-Qaeda attack that 

stopped the world

• From: news.com.au
• May 02, 2011 2:28PM

IT was the horrifying moment that stopped the world. 

On September 11, 2001, a series of devastating suicide attacks rocked the US, killing 2976 people.

Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger planes and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, with the buildings collapsing in less than two hours. Everyone on board the planes was killed, along with many working in the buildings.

A third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia, while a fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the jet.

Following the attacks the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched the largest criminal inquiry in the history of the US, telling that the US Senate that there is "clear and irrefutable" evidence linking al-Qaeda and Bin Laden to the events.

The US responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror, invading Afghanistan in an attempt to depose the Taliban, who harboured al-Qaeda terrorists.

Attention was also focused on Iraq. According to CBS News just hours after the attacks Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told his aides to come up with plans to strike Iraq – even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

The Iraq War began on March 20, 2002, with the invasion of Iraq by US troops under the administration of former President George Bush. The US has since begun winding down its operations in Iraq.

The September 11 attacks had a severe economic impact on the US and world markets. When the stock markets – which did not open on September 11 – opened the next day the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market plunged 7.1 per cent, a record one-day point decline.

US stocks lost $1.4 trillion in value by the end of the week.

The attacks rocked the world with numerous countries, including China, the UK, France and India, introducing anti-terrorism legislation following the attacks.