Editorial: The horror of 9/11 attacks opened the world's eyes to the reality of terrorism

Unless you are old enough to remember clearly the events of September 11 2001, it is almost impossible to convey the impact that day had on the world.

It was terrorism of a scale ​not seen before or since – and was broadcast to the world in images that haunt us to this day.

2,977 innocent people lost their lives in the United States of America in the attacks. It is impossible to imagine what it must have been like in New York and Virginia as passenger planes were turned into deadly weapons.

There was some extraordinary heroism that day, perhaps none more so than by those on Flight 93. Ordinary men and women who brought their hijacked aircraft down in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania – saving the lives of countless others in the US capital.

Their flight, like the others, had been hijacked by Islamist fanatics whose hatred of the West, and of freedom, was for them more important than their own lives – or the lives of innocent people they murdered.

The civilised world was stunned by what had happened. The most powerful nation on earth had been shaken to its foundations, and by religious extremists with primitive values.

However, the Americans, along with the world’s democratic nations, united against the threat from radical Islam. It is a threat which still exists today – and not just from caves in Afghanistan.

Islamism is a huge problem in the West as a whole, and in this country. Technological advances in the past 25 years may have made it easier to monitor, but this evil ideology and its proponents remain.

9/11 woke the world up to the reality of terrorism – whether motivated by politics, religion or both. We must remain ever-vigilant, and ensure such horrific loss of life never happens again.