Washington

In a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Washington on Sunday, US President Joe Biden laid a wreath and honoured the lives lost in the 9/11 attack on its 21st anniversary.

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During the ceremony, Biden said, ''It's not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now or then. It's something we have to do every single day. We will secure democracy together as one America, the United States of America. That's who we are."'

''We regain the light by reaching out to one another, and finding something all too rare: a true sense of national unity. To me, that's the greatest lesson of September 11th.''

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"And to all our service members and their families...who sacrificed so much for our nation, we owe you. We owe you an incredible...debt. A debt that can never be repaid," he added.

Meanwhile, the observance ceremony at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington will be attended by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley.

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In the deadliest single attack on US soil, four passenger planes were hijacked by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001, and later crashed into the World Trade Center's North and South Towers.

Calling the attack "one of the most tragic days" for the US and the world, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed their support for Washington.

Paying tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes destroyed the Twin Towers, Vice President Kamala Harris attended the New York ceremony with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Mayor Eric Adams.

Showing two blue beams projecting into the night sky symbolizing the Twin Towers, New York was illuminated late Saturday by a "Tribute in Light".

(With inputs from agencies)

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