21 years of 9/11: 5 facts you didn't know about September 11 attack

The World Trade Center in New York City was attacked by two aircraft on September 11, 2001. The Islamic extremist organisation al-Qaeda, which comprised 19 of its members, hijacked four aircraft and used them in suicide assaults on American soil. The third jet smashed into the Pentagon outside of Washington, DC, while the fourth plane went down in Pennsylvania. The 9/11 terrorist attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 individuals. Major U.S. efforts to counter terrorism were launched in response to the 9/11 attacks.

Also, READ: Queen Elizabeth II's funeral to take place at Westminster Abbey on September 19

At 8:45 a.m. on a Tuesday, September 11, 2001, an American Airlines Boeing 767 carrying 20,000 gallons of jet fuel slammed into the north side of the World Trade Center. Thousands of people perished as the fire spread from the 80th level of the 110-story building. Many individuals were stranded on the upper levels. After 18 minutes, United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, burning a hole in the building's 60th story.

Reportedly, Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national on the run, used funds from his terrorist group, al-Qaeda, to fund the 9/11 attacks.

New, stricter laws were drafted at the expense of civil liberties, and military actions were taken in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Pakistan, leading to the deaths of dictators Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. All of these changes affected the security situation after September 11, 2001.

Here are five facts that you didn't know about 9/11 attack: 

• The remaining flames at Ground Zero were not entirely extinguished until December 19, 2001. Over 185,101 tonnes of steel from Ground Zero were utilised on memorials across the United States, but it was also exported to China and India.
• The CIA had informed Clinton that "Bin Ladin was preparing to hijack US aircraft and other attacks." On December 4, 1998, the CIA informed the President in his Daily Brief that he intended to hijack aircraft in order to secure the release of Yousef and other prisoners.
• A bomb was put in a vehicle parked at the WTC's subterranean parking on February 26, 1993. The device detonated, killing six people and injuring over 1,000 others. "The Sunni terrorist who set the bomb, Ramzi Yousef, subsequently said that he planned to kill 250,000 people."
• Two aircraft were flown into New York City's famed World Trade Center twin buildings. Coverage of World Trade Center Structure 7, a 47-story building presumed to have fallen owing to "ancillary damage" from the Twin Towers, is scant. However, the third aircraft crashed into this structure.
• According to the paper, the CIA and other agencies devised a plan to arrest bin Laden in early 1998. This was postponed and then resurrected, but it was impeded by military authorities' misgivings about depending on Afghan tribal chiefs. Sandy Berger, the then-national security advisor, was worried about what would happen to bin Laden if he was apprehended and if the evidence against him might lead to a criminal conviction in a US court.