22nd Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks: Two more victims identified, over ...

It is believed that the key planner of the 9/11 attacks was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Some media reports revealed that Khalid's plan was to blow up more than a dozen American planes during the 1990s, but that failed and he joined hands with Osama bin Laden with whom he organized the 9/11 terrorist attack. 

After over two decades since the terrorist attacks, the remains of two people who died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center have been identified, the latest positive identification in the decadeslong effort to return victims to their families, AP reported. 

Authorities confirmed the identification of the remains of a man and woman days ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the hijacked plane attack. Their names were withheld by city officials at the request of their families. 

New York City’s medical examiner has now been able to link remains to 1,649 World Trade Center victims, a painstaking process that relies on leading-edge DNA sequencing techniques to test body fragments recovered in the rubble, as per AP reports. 

Officials informed that advancements in sequencing technology, including increased test sensitivity and faster turnaround times, have allowed them to identify remains that had tested negative for identifiable DNA for decades. 

Similar efforts are used by the US military to identify missing service members and are currently underway to test body fragments from more than 100 people killed during the wildfires in Maui last month, according to AP reports. 

They said that the last identification was made in 2019. More than 1,000 human remains from the September 11, 2001, attacks have yet to be identified. They are currently being stored at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center site.

(With AP inputs)

Updated: 11 Sep 2023, 06:43 AM IST