This day in History – September 11

Sep 11, 2022 News

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Compiled by Zena Henry

International troops leave Beirut, Palestinian refugees massacred

Kaieteur News – Just five days after international forces guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel’s 1982 Invasion of Lebanon left Beirut on September 11, several thousand of refugees were massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Phalange forces.

The Sabra and Shatila massacre (also known as the Sabra and Chatila massacre) was the killing of between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, by the militia of the Lebanese Forces, a Maronite Christian Lebanese right-wing party, under the command of Elie Hobeika, in the Sabra neighbourhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. President Bachir Gemayel had been assassinated two days earlier and the Phalangists sought revenge. From approximately 18:00 on 16 September to 08:00 on 18 September 1982, a widespread massacre was carried out by the militia, while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had the camp surrounded. The militia had been ordered by the IDF to clear Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters out of Sabra and Shatila, as part of the IDF’s maneuvering into West Beirut. As the massacre unfolded, the IDF received reports of atrocities but did not take any action to prevent or stop the massacre.

Terrorists kill over 2000 Americans after hijacking planes

The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the militant Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda against the United States. On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists—directed by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden—hijacked four commercial airliners mid-flight while travelling from the northeastern U.S. to California.

The attackers were organised into three groups of five members and one group of four, with each group including one designated flight-trained hijacker who took control of the aircraft. Their goal was to crash the planes into prominent American buildings, inflicting mass casualties and major structural damage. The hijackers successfully crashed the first two planes into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane was intended to hit a federal government building[s] in Washington, D.C., but instead crashed down in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, following a passenger revolt that foiled the attack.

Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever

Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power nicknamed “Father of All Bombs” (FOAB) is a Russian-designed, bomber-delivered thermobaric weapon.

The bomb is reportedly similar to the U.S military’s GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast which is often unofficially called “Mother of All Bombs” derived from its official military acronym “MOAB”. This weapon would therefore be the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) weapon in the world. However, the veracity of Russia’s claims concerning the weapon’s size and power have been questioned by US defense analysts. “FOAB” was successfully field-tested in the late evening of 11 September, 2007.  The new weapon was to replace several smaller types of nuclear bombs in the Russian arsenal.

Almost 300 people are killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan

Factories in Pakistan’s two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore caught fire on 11 September, 2012. The fires occurred in a textile factory in the western part of Karachi and in a shoe factory in Lahore.

The fires are considered to be the most deadly and worst industrial factory fires in Pakistan’s history, killing 289 people and seriously injuring more than. Pakistan has one of the largest labour and manpower resources in the world, due to its large population. According to data produced by the CIA World Factbook, the total number of Pakistan’s labour force at the time was 58.4 million, making it the 10th largest country in terms of available human workforce. A private garment factory lit on fire and the flames ignited chemicals that were stored there. The Baldia Town factory inferno case took a dramatic turn in 2015 when a report said that the political party, MQM, was behind the deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 258 factory workers. MQM set fire to the factory to take extortion money from its owners.

U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked

The 2012 Benghazi attack was a coordinated attack against two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia. On September 11, 2012 members of Ansar al-Sharia attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi resulting in the deaths of both United States Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith.

On September 12, the group launched a mortar attack against a CIA annex approximately one mile (1.6 km) away, killing two CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty and wounding ten others. Initial analysis by the CIA, repeated by top government officials, indicated that the attack spontaneously arose from a protest. Subsequent investigations showed that the attack was premeditated—although rioters and looters not originally part of the group may have joined in after the attacks began.

Crane collapsed over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, killing 111

A crawler crane collapsed over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 11 September, 2015, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others. The city was preparing for the Hajj pilgrimage. The accident has been cited as the deadliest crane collapse in history, with the previous most deadly incident being the collapse of a construction crane in New York City in 2008, killing seven people.

Following the accidents, the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud, ordered a halt to the awarding of contracts to the Saudi Binladin Group, the primary contractor of construction works in the holy city. The incident was found to have resulted from a combination of human error and forceful winds. Victims of the accident were of 12 different nationalities, with the greatest contingents of deaths being 25 Bangladeshis and 23 Egyptians. Of the injured, the most represented nationalities were 51 Pakistanis and 42 Indonesians.

 

 

 

 

 

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