who caused 911

The 9/11 attacks were caused by the Islamist extremist terrorist group al- Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden. Nineteen hijackers, associated with al-Qaeda, commandeered four commercial airliners on September 11, 2001, executing coordinated suicide attacks against targets in the United States, including the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and were planned and orchestrated by al-Qaeda, with Osama bin Laden taking personal responsibility in later statements. The key planner of the attacks was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the hijackers were mainly from Saudi Arabia, with some from other Middle Eastern countries. The U.S. government quickly identified al-Qaeda as responsible based on intelligence intercepts, communications, and investigations immediately following the attacks.