Daughter of 9/11 victim confronts Al-Qaeda 'monsters' at Guantánamo Bay

The teenage daughter whose mother died in September 11 has travelled to Guantánamo Bay to confront the "monsters" who killed her police officer mother.

Patricia Smith was only two years old when Moira Smith, a New York police officer, was killed in the 2001 terrorist attack. She was the only female officer killed that day.

The then toddler broke hearts across the world when she accepted her mother's posthumous Medal of Honour award with her father Jim Smith, also a police officer.

Wearing a red velvet dress and holding her dad's hands, she walked across the stage at Carnegie Hall so that then-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani could drape her mother's medal around her neck.

Now at 17, Patricia has made headlines again. This time for confronting a high-level Al-Qaeda operative who allegedly had a role in the plot which killed nearly 3000 people, including her mother. 

Smith attended Camp Justice in Guantánamo Bay on Sunday, Mother's Day, with her father Jim to confront Yemeni Walid bin Attash, who is currently on pretrial hearings for his role in the 9/11 plot.

Patricia and her father travelled to Guantánamo Bay to stare down the man who had contributed to Moira's death.

"I am glad Patricia was able to accompany me here to see for herself the monsters responsible for the murder of her mother," Jim Smith told Newsweek.

"It will be her job to carry on the search for justice in the event I am unable to in the coming years."

Minutes before her death, Moira was photographed leading a bloodied Wall Street worker to safety, before the tower fell and killed her. She was 38 the day she died.

Bin Attash, 38, is among a number of Al-Qaeda members who will be trialed at Guantánamo Bay in the coming weeks for their roles in the attacks. He has been held in Gitmo for nearly 11 years, after being charged with war crimes.

The number of emergency service workers killed as a result of the September 11 attacks continues to climb, as more officers and firefighters die from related long-term illnesses due to the toxic conditions.