CIA declassifies briefs about Al-Qaeda on 9/11 anniversary

The US Central Intelligence Agency released more than 70 presidential intelligence briefs related to Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The release provides "unprecedented transparency on America's most sensitive intelligence publication from the years before and the day after one of the darkest moments in our history," the CIA said in a statement.

"The products trace the story of CIA analysts' evolving understanding of Al-Qaeda and efforts to highlight and warn of Osama bin Laden's attack plotting despite sparse, vague, and imperfect information," it said.