On the morning of 11 September 2001 , a total of 19 Arab men — 15 of whom were from Saudi Arabia — carried out four coordinated attacks in the United States . Four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked . The hijackers – members of al-Qaeda 's Hamburg cell – intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , killing everyone on board and more than 2,000 people in the buildings . Both buildings collapsed within two hours from damage related to the crashes , destroying nearby buildings and damaging others . The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington , Virginia , just outside Washington , D.C . The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville , in rural Pennsylvania , after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane , which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington , D.C. , to target the White House , or the U.S. Capitol . No one aboard the flights survived . According to the New York State Health Department , the death toll among responders including firefighters and police was 836 as of June 2009 . Total deaths were 2,996 , including the 19 hijackers
third airliner
American Airlines Flight 77
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)