<p>Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that left nearly 3,000 people dead.</p>.<p>The Al-Qaeda plane hijackings of September 11, 2001 were the first foreign attack on the US mainland in nearly two centuries.</p>.<p>It ruptured America's sense of safety and plunged the West into war in Afghanistan -- a military operation that has only just finished, with the Taliban back in power.</p>.<p>The Islamist extremists smashed two jetliners into New York's World Trade Center, killing 2,753 people.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/20-years-after-9/11-work-of-identifying-remains-continues-1028559.html" target="_blank">Read | 20 years after 9/11, work of identifying remains continues</a></strong></p>.<p>A third commercial jet hit the Pentagon, killing 184, and 40 more died after a fourth plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt.</p>.<p>Here is a timeline of events that fateful day, which reshaped the course of US history, drawing information from the 9/11 Memorial website and the 9/11 Commission report.</p>.<p>American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles with 92 people on board -- including five hijackers -- crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.</p>.<p>The impact leaves a giant hole in the building's facade. Thick smoke trails into the sky from the tower's upper floors.</p>.<p>United Airlines Flight 175, also a Boeing 767 making a Boston-Los Angeles connection, this time with 65 people on board -- including five hijackers -- hits the World Trade Center's South Tower, sparking a massive explosion.</p>.<p>George W. Bush's chief of staff informs the US president, who is reading a story to elementary school children in Florida, that the United States is under attack.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/two-decades-after-9/11-saudi-arabia-seeks-softer-image-1028686.html" target="_blank">Read | Two decades after 9/11, Saudi Arabia seeks softer image</a></strong></p>.<p>Bush calls the blasts "an apparent terrorist attack" during brief remarks at the school. He orders "a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed these acts."</p>.<p>American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 headed from Washington's Dulles airport to Los Angeles with 64 people on board -- including five hijackers -- smashes into the west facade of the Pentagon just outside the US capital.</p>.<p>The US Federal Aviation Administration orders all commercial flights in the United States to land as quickly as possible, after earlier halting all departures.</p>.<p>The World Trade Center's South Tower, hit 56 minutes earlier, collapses in a huge cloud of smoke and dust.</p>.<p>United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 traveling from Newark to San Francisco with 44 people on board -- including four hijackers -- crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew who had learned about the other attacks fought with the hijackers.</p>.<p>The north tower of the World Trade Center collapses, an hour and 42 minutes after it was struck. A huge cloud of dust blankets lower Manhattan.</p>.<p>In an address from the Oval Office, Bush denounces the attacks as "evil, despicable acts of terror."</p>.<p>He announces that thousands have died and says Washington will "make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that left nearly 3,000 people dead.</p>.<p>The Al-Qaeda plane hijackings of September 11, 2001 were the first foreign attack on the US mainland in nearly two centuries.</p>.<p>It ruptured America's sense of safety and plunged the West into war in Afghanistan -- a military operation that has only just finished, with the Taliban back in power.</p>.<p>The Islamist extremists smashed two jetliners into New York's World Trade Center, killing 2,753 people.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/20-years-after-9/11-work-of-identifying-remains-continues-1028559.html" target="_blank">Read | 20 years after 9/11, work of identifying remains continues</a></strong></p>.<p>A third commercial jet hit the Pentagon, killing 184, and 40 more died after a fourth plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt.</p>.<p>Here is a timeline of events that fateful day, which reshaped the course of US history, drawing information from the 9/11 Memorial website and the 9/11 Commission report.</p>.<p>American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles with 92 people on board -- including five hijackers -- crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.</p>.<p>The impact leaves a giant hole in the building's facade. Thick smoke trails into the sky from the tower's upper floors.</p>.<p>United Airlines Flight 175, also a Boeing 767 making a Boston-Los Angeles connection, this time with 65 people on board -- including five hijackers -- hits the World Trade Center's South Tower, sparking a massive explosion.</p>.<p>George W. Bush's chief of staff informs the US president, who is reading a story to elementary school children in Florida, that the United States is under attack.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/two-decades-after-9/11-saudi-arabia-seeks-softer-image-1028686.html" target="_blank">Read | Two decades after 9/11, Saudi Arabia seeks softer image</a></strong></p>.<p>Bush calls the blasts "an apparent terrorist attack" during brief remarks at the school. He orders "a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed these acts."</p>.<p>American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 headed from Washington's Dulles airport to Los Angeles with 64 people on board -- including five hijackers -- smashes into the west facade of the Pentagon just outside the US capital.</p>.<p>The US Federal Aviation Administration orders all commercial flights in the United States to land as quickly as possible, after earlier halting all departures.</p>.<p>The World Trade Center's South Tower, hit 56 minutes earlier, collapses in a huge cloud of smoke and dust.</p>.<p>United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 traveling from Newark to San Francisco with 44 people on board -- including four hijackers -- crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew who had learned about the other attacks fought with the hijackers.</p>.<p>The north tower of the World Trade Center collapses, an hour and 42 minutes after it was struck. A huge cloud of dust blankets lower Manhattan.</p>.<p>In an address from the Oval Office, Bush denounces the attacks as "evil, despicable acts of terror."</p>.<p>He announces that thousands have died and says Washington will "make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>