The organization responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001, was al- Qaeda, a militant Islamist extremist group. The attacks were orchestrated by al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as the principal planner. Nineteen terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes, crashing them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia, and a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths and had profound global consequences. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for these attacks, and U.S. investigations confirmed their involvement shortly after the events.
