WASHINGTON, D. C. - A safiyar shekara ta 2001, 'yan ta'addan kungiyar al-Qaida 19 suka yi awon gaba da jiragen kasuwanci guda hudu, inda suka mayar da su makamai masu linzami. Jirgin farko ya fada kan hasumiyar Arewa ta cibiyar kasuwanci ta duniya wato World Trade Center, da ke birnin New York. Bayan mintuna goma sha shida, jirgi na biyu ya bugi hasumiyar Kudu. Mutanen Manhattan suka fice daga motocinsu kuma suka sa ido ganin yadda bala'i ke bayyana mai nauke da labarai sama da 110.
Sannan wani jirgin sama na uku ya kutsa kai cikin ma'aikatar tsaron Amurka ta Pentagon, hedkwatar ma'aikatar tsaro da ke Arlington a jihar Virginia. Jirgi na karshe watakila da ya nufi Capitol ne, amma a maimakon haka ya yi hadari a Shanksville, Pennsylvania, bayan da fasinjojin suka yi kokarin kwace ikon dakin tukin jirgin amma ba su yi nasara ba. Kusan mutane 3,000 daga kasashe 93 ne suka rasa rayukansu a wannan rana, hari mafi muni da aka kai a kasar Amurka tun bayan harin da Japan ta kai kan Pearl Harbor a shekarar 1941.