Editing 2001 (section)

=== International conflicts ===
The [[2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff]] was the only conflict between two national governments in 2001.<ref name=":1" /> The territorial dispute over the region of [[Kashmir]] consisted primarily of small scale attacks by militant groups until two attacks on Indian legislature buildings: one [[2001 Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly car bombing|in October]] and one [[2001 Indian Parliament attack|in December]]. The latter provoked a major escalation of troop deployments with preparations for a major war.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=46}}

The [[Second Intifada]] continued from the previous year between Israel and Palestine.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=55}} The conflict escalated into an undeclared war in which Palestinian militants targeted Israeli civilians with weapons and suicide bombers with the Israeli military responding with fighter jets and missile strikes against Palestinians.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=279}} Every ceasefire ended within a day of its establishment.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=56}}

==== September 11 attacks and invasion of Afghanistan ====
{{Main|September 11 attacks|United States invasion of Afghanistan}}
[[File:Explosion following the plane impact into the South Tower (WTC 2) - B6019~11.jpg|thumb|The [[September 11 attacks]] were a defining event of the year 2001.]]
The September 11 attacks were carried out by [[Al-Qaeda]] when 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], one into [[the Pentagon]], and one near [[Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania]]. 2,977 people were killed;<ref name="Nadeem-2021">{{Cite web |last=Nadeem |first=Reem |date=2021-09-02 |title=Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=November 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124003208/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UN OCT-2021">{{Cite web |date=2021-09-20 |title=The United Nations pays tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the 9/11 Memorial in New York |url=https://www.un.org/counterterrorism/events/un-pays-tribute-to-victims-911-terrorist-attacks |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118013139/https://www.un.org/counterterrorism/events/un-pays-tribute-to-victims-911-terrorist-attacks |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CNN-2013">{{Cite web |date=2013-07-27 |title=September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/index.html |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=June 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603190712/https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the attacks and the subsequent [[global war on terror]] are widely recognized as events that defined 2001.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|page=1}}<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=8}} This was internationally recognized as an armed attack against the United States under the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN charter]], and [[NATO]] invoked [[Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty]] for the first time in its history.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|page=491}}

The [[Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)|Afghan Civil War]] between the ''de jure'' [[Northern Alliance]] government and the ''de facto'' [[Taliban]] government continued from previous years.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=39}} When the Taliban refused to extradite Al-Qaeda leader [[Osama bin Laden]], the United States led a [[Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom|multi-national coalition]] in an invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=41}} The American-led coalition and the Northern Alliance captured Afghan cities until the Taliban [[Fall of Kandahar|surrendered]] to the Northern Alliance in [[Kandahar]] on December 6.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=42}} The American-led coalition [[Battle of Tora Bora|attacked]] the Al-Qaeda headquarters in [[Tora Bora]] in December, but Al-Qaeda's leadership had gone into hiding. An interim government of Afghanistan led by&nbsp;[[Hamid Karzai]] was formed on December 22.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|pages=42–43}}