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America remembers 9/11

September 11, 2014

The United States has marked the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on New York, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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Image: REUTERS/G. Cameron

US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden observed a moment of silence at the White House in a special ceremony to mark the anniversary on Thursday.

Later in the day from the Pentagon, Obama made a speech in front of relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks: "As Americans, we draw strength from you, for your love is the ultimate rebuke to the hatred of those who attacked us that bright, blue morning."

"You've kept alive a love that no act of terror can ever extinguish," he said, "We carry on because as Americans, we do not give in to fear. Ever."

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in Islamist group al Qaeda's attacks on New York, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 13 years ago.

The ceremony in New York began at 8:46 am (12:46 UTC), when the first hijacked plane flew into the World Trade Center's North Tower on September 11, 2001. Relatives of those killed in the attacks then began the long process of reading aloud the names of the 9/11 victims.

It is the first commemoration since the opening of the National September 11 Museum in New York.

The anniversary comes hours after President Obama announced his new military strategy to counter militant group "Islamic State" (IS) in Iraq and Syria - a new front in the US' confrontation with radical Islamic groups in the Middle East.

shs/hc (Reuters, AP)