2001

2001 was a calendar year that began on a Monday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the first year of the 21st century and the third millennium, according to the system in which years are numbered (there being no year zero).

The year is notably marked by the attacks of 11 September on the United States and the political and security upheavals that followed. 2001 was also characterized by advances in technology and molecular biology.

The 11 September Attacks

On 11 September 2001, a group of attackers hijacked four aircraft operating within the United States. Two struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York and a third hit the Pentagon building in Virginia. A fourth aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania. Thousands of people died. Al-Qaeda was identified as responsible for planning the attacks.

Following the attacks, the US government launched what became known as the 'war on terror'. In October 2001, American forces and allied troops began operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which resulted in the Taliban government losing power by the end of the year.

Other Events

This year saw the release of the first version of the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft, and significant results were published from the Human Genome Project. Wikipedia was also founded in January 2001.

Somalia and the Region

In this year, Somalia lacked a complete central government, with a transitional administration that had emerged from the Charter negotiations (1420/2000) attempting to operate from Mogadishu, while regional administrations and faction leaders governed various territories.