UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Tuesday observed a moment of silence for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States 17 years ago.

"Seventeen years later, it hurts as much today as the day that it happened," said U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who asked for a "point of personal privilege" at the beginning of a morning session of the Security Council.

Haley, who presided over the meeting as president of the council for the month of September, asked for a moment of silence to remember the thousands of victims who lost their lives 17 years ago in New York City and Washington D.C.

"That day taught us a lot of lessons. It taught us the lesson that we can never let our guard down; it taught us the lesson that the evil exists; it taught us the lesson that we should never stop trying for peace and security in this world," Haley told the Security Council.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon near Washington D.C. and a field near Shanksville in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.