Remembering 9/11: What 9/11 Means to Me

The attacks on twin towers of the United States of America on 11 September 2001, commonly known as 9/11 attacks, was something that changed the entire security landscape of the global security.https://afsc.org/news/25-years-after-911-new-vision-peace These attacks particulary impacted Afghanistan and my country Pakistan. I born one year after the 9/11 attacks and as a Pakistani, I witnessed the impact of the twin tower attacks personally as during the counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, terrorism slowly and gradually resurged in my area after 8 years of the 9/11 attacks. The attacks I had not personally seen or not even watched on television on the day it happened, but witnessed it impacts. These attacks particularly influenced my views about international security and counterterrorism. I grew up in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan which border Afghanistan and we were directly impacted by the counterterrorism operations ongoing in Afghanistan in the aftermatch of 9/11 attacks. My grandfather had a radio which was our only source of getting information about what’s going on in the world especially Afhghanistan and the tribal area of Pakistan. We were a little bit aware of the terrorism and extremism resurgence in the tribal areas of Pakistan but it was never in our mind that after 8 years of the 9/11 attacks, we will witness its impacts. Things got changedin 2008. I still remember that when I was in 1st class, terrorist attacks slowly and gradually started in Distrcit Lower Dir and Swat areas of Pakistan and we were living in these areas. I witnessed helicopter and jets flying over our houses and talibans using radio stations and mosques to communicate their propaganda to the public. We witnessed firings and aerial bombardment espcially at night times and it particularly impacted the mental health, businesses, and careers of millions of people living in Dir and Swat. Schools and markets were shut down and we were not allowed to go out of our homes. Pakistan’s military conducted several operations in our area to eliminate terrorism. It was 2009 when terrorist attacks reached to its peak in our areas. we were instructed by the government to leave our homes and shift to safe areas. Our family decided to moved to Peshawar, Pakistan as some of our relatives were living there. we were internally displaced and moved to Peshawar. We left behind our education, homes, and almost everything. I still remember that day when we started our journey toward Peshawar. We covered the journey of 4 hours in 17 hours. We travelled for whole day as there were checkpoints in different areas and thousands of families were on roads trying to shift to safe places. We reached Peshawar at midnight leaving behind our homes worried about the situation in our areas. But then after almost 1 year, we shifted back to our homes with things somehow fine. The day when we were coming back to our homes was both of happiness and saddness. We wer still worried about the situations in our areas. On the way, we saw buildings, schools,and checkpoints completely devastated due to firings and aerial bombings. Things were somehow fine as there was almost full control of the military and police in our areas. We still saw checkposts in many areas and witnessed our village and area markets completely changed. At that time, I was not able to connect the dots that from where this thing started and what will be its long term impacts in the future. After 7 years, in matric, I studied an article on 9/11 and the terrorism resurgence in Pakistan which completely changed my views about stuyding terrorism in Pakistan as independent phenomenon. At that time, I became able to connect the dots between what happened on 09 september 2001 in America and the terrorism and extremism we witnessed in our areas in Paksitan. 25 years later, i still realize that it was 9/11 attacks in USA which impacted our lives in the far flung areas of Pakistan. It forever changed my view about global security and influenced my decision that in a society where parents compel their children to study medical or engineering, I will pruse my career in the field of international security and counterterrorirsm.