Hamburg cell

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The Hamburg cell (German: Hamburger Zelle; Arabic: خلية هامبورغ, Khaliyyat Hāmbūrġ) was a network of Islamist extremist activists based in Hamburg, Germany, during the second half of the 1990s. Its members had come to Germany to pursue higher education in engineering or related fields. This cell played a central role in the operational planning of the September 11 attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States. Three of the pilots of the four hijacked planes involved in these coordinated attacks—Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah—were members of this cell. Their source of motivation was their belief that they would be recognized as martyrs (shahid) after their deaths. In 1999, the cell left Hamburg to join the Chechen jihadists fighting Russia in the Second Chechen War, but redirected to Afghanistan to meet al-Qaeda's leadership. They then worked on the hijacking plan at a Hamburg apartment owned by the cell's ringleader, Mohamed Atta. Twelve men were members: Atta...

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