NEW YORK : The United States on Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, remembering nearly 3,000 people killed in the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

Commemorations were being held in New York, at the Pentagon outside Washington and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the three sites linked to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In New York, families of victims gathered at the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. The annual ceremony traditionally includes the reading of victims’ names and moments of silence marking key events during the attacks.

Twenty-five years ago, hijackers seized four commercial aircraft. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York, while a third struck the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field near Shanksville after passengers and crew attempted to regain control of the plane.

The attacks killed 2,977 victims, excluding the 19 hijackers, and reshaped US foreign and security policy. They led to the US-led war in Afghanistan and sweeping changes to aviation security, intelligence gathering and counterterrorism operations.

The anniversary carries particular significance this year as the United States reaches a quarter-century since the attacks, with a new generation having grown up with no personal memory of September 11.

Across the country, memorial events, moments of silence and tributes are being held to remember the victims, first responders and families whose lives were changed by the attacks.

At night in New York, the annual Tribute in Light is expected to illuminate the Manhattan skyline with two beams of light symbolising the fallen Twin Towers.

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