President attends commemoration for 9/11 victims in New York

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is in New York participating in the UN General Assembly, attended the special commemorative event organised in front of the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan to mark the 20th anniversary of the 11 September terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

The terrorist attacks took place on 11 September 2001, targeting the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.

Coinciding with the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the 9/11 Memorial Museum jointly organised the event.

Other heads of state and government representatives, who were in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, were also present at the event to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in attacks.