War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
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.
List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six
On October 7, 1985 an Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro carrying 400 passengers including American citizens was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists led by Mohammed Abul al-Abbas also known as Muhammad Zaidan. The ship was hijacked in the Mediterranean sea and forced to sail to Southern Syria. President Ronald Reagan approved deployment of Navy’s SEAL Team SIX and Delta Force operators to plan and prepare for a rescue attempt to free the vessel from its hijackers. On October 8, Syria refused permission for the ship to dock and subsequently the hijackers murdered Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly Jewish American businessman. The ship then sailed towards Port Said, Egypt. On October 9, SEAL Team SIX assault members embarked on board the USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 which steamed for Port Said. On October 10, the four terrorist hijackers boarded an Egypt Air Boeing 737 airliner and flew from Cairo and headed for Tunisia. President Reagan approved military plans to intercept the aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea. Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters located the airliner south of Crete and forced the pilots to land at NAS Sigonella, the NATO air base in Sicily. After the 737 touched down, two United States Air Force C-141 Starliftercargo planes landed with SEAL Team SIX who quickly surrounded the airplane but were then surrounded by Italian Carabinieri. The plane came to a stop on the Italian controlled portion at Sigonella and therefore was on Italian Soil. As the SEALs prepared to assault the airplane, negotiations between the United States, Egyptian and Italian authorities continued. The four hijackers were eventually taken off the plane into the custody of the Italians without further escalation of hostilities.