The silence of Manhattan
As the commemoration ceremony begins exactly 20 years after the attack on the Twin Towers, the entire area around Ground Zero is armored. Journalists, TV crews from around the world and the public are kept outside the fence that begins at Church Street in the east. The barriers will not be removed until noon. New Yorkers are here to pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 victims of that attack. At 8.46, the time of the first impact of the hijacked plane on the North Tower, a minute of silence is observed, an act that is repeated at 9.03, when the South Tower was also hit.
A huge US flag on the Pentagon
A large US flag partially covers the Pentagon building, home to the US Department of Defense, at the dawn of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The building was one of three sites where one of the hijacked planes, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed. In the impact 189 people between soldiers and civilians died, 125 of whom worked inside the building.
New York, gospel and prayers: the memory of the victims in the city that flourished twenty years after 11 September
by our correspondent Anna Lombardi
Di Maio to Blinken: “The terrorism threat is current, Italy is with you to counter it”
“On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, I wish to express my heartfelt closeness to all American citizens. Renewing the memory of this tragic event is the responsibility of all those who believe in our common values. That barbaric aggression did not strike only the United States, but the whole world. With its terrorist action Al Qaeda wanted to hit the universal message of democracy, freedom and dignity of the person “. These are the words that the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, wrote in a letter to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blink, on the occasion of the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. “Although severe blows have been inflicted on international terrorism, its threat continues to be current. Italy will continue its commitment to counter it, alongside the US and the international partners. The link between Rome and Washington, firmly anchored in the transatlantic framework, is now more fundamental than ever to face the challenges that are looming on the global scenario “, concludes his message.
Walzer: “9/11 woke up America. But in Afghanistan we were wrong “
by our correspondent Anna Lombardi
Obama: “US home of heroes, 20 years later the same courage”
The twentieth anniversary of 9/11 is an opportunity for a “reflection on what we have learned in the 20 years that have passed since that terrible morning,” said the former US president. Barack Obama. “One thing that became clear that day is that America has always been home to heroes who run into danger to do what is right,” adding that the image of that day is not just the fall of the Towers. but also the firefighters who go up the stairs while the others go down, the passengers who decide to storm the cockpit, the volunteers willing to put their lives on the line. “Over the past 20 years, we have seen the same courage and selflessness,” 9/11 reminded us how so many Americans give themselves in extraordinary ways, not just in times of great crisis, but every single day. and never take it for granted. “
Kabul, the Taliban celebrate the twentieth anniversary of September 11 “Bin Laden did not attack the towers”
by our correspondent Pietro Del Re
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