article for February 8, 2019

Article of the day for February 8, 2019 is Khalid al-Mihdhar.
Khalid al-Mihdhar (1975–2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks. He was born in Saudi Arabia and fought in the Bosnian War during the 1990s. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced al-Qaeda member, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Mihdhar attended the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit in Malaysia and then went to California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000. Arriving in San Diego, they were to train as pilots, but spoke English poorly and did not do well with flight lessons. In June 2000, Mihdhar left the United States for Yemen; after spending time in Afghanistan, he returned to the U.S. in early July 2001. On the morning of September 11, he boarded Flight 77. The attack killed all 64 people aboard, along with 125 on the ground.