### September 11 Attacks **Date**: September 11, 2001 • **Location**: Washington, United States This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 2001–present. al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger airliners to carry out a series of terrorist attacks (one pictured) against targets in New York City and the area of Washington, D.C., killing 2,977 people. Al-Qaeda is a transnational pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Islamist jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic caliphate. Its core membership is primarily composed of Arabs, with additional representation from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing, and the September 11 attacks. It has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and over two dozen countries around the world.

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