Since fleeing Kabul ahead of the Taliban attack in September 1996, Massoud had taken refuge in his strongly defended hideout in north-west Afghanistan. In early 2001 Massoud addressed the European Parliament in Brussels and warned of a huge terrorist act against the US. Massoud had become the only alternative to the repressive Taliban regime and the first point of contact for the US. On 9 September 2001, two Tunisians posing as Belgian journalists were granted an interview with Massoud. Within their video camera was a bomb. There had been countless attempts on Massoud’s life in the previous twenty years but this one was successful. The bomb fatally wounded Massoud.
Suspicions that Massoud’s death was the work of bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were later confirmed. For some within the US Republican government, his death held an ominous tiding.
Two days later, 11 September 2001, their worst fears were confirmed. At 8.46 a.m. local time, American Airlines Flight 11 smashed into the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center. It could have been a terrible accident. But seventeen minutes later a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, crashed into the South Tower. This was no accident; America was under attack.
At 9.39 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field 150 miles north-west of Washington DC after its passengers had overcome the four terrorists. All on board died, including the terrorists.
At 10 a.m. the South Tower collapsed, followed half an hour later by the North Tower.
The 9/11 attacks resulted in approximately 3,000 deaths and with it began the Global War on Terror.
At first bin Laden denied any involvement in the 9/11 attacks, stating, ‘I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation.’ But the evidence suggested otherwise and by 2004 bin Laden had confirmed his responsibility. Many of the nineteen hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks had been trained in Afghanistan.
US president George W. Bush soon found allies within the UN, and received unconditional support from British prime minister Tony Blair. More questionable was the loyalty of Pakistan, who had been among the Taliban’s greatest supporters. The US threatened to return Pakistan to the ‘stone age’ if they failed to ally themselves to the US cause. Fifty-three Pakistan nationals had lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks and President Musharraf had no difficulty in pledging his support in the forthcoming conflict. Under US pressure both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia denounced their ties to the Taliban, while Bush approved the sending of aid to the Afghan United Front, a loose alliance of anti-Taliban groups, known also as the Northern Alliance. The stage was set.