(Image: U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters)

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Dick Cheney sits with his feet up on a desk staring at a television news report as smoke pours from the stricken Twin Towers.

This never-before-seen photograph is one of a collection released showing the immediate aftermath inside the White House as the September 11 terror attacks unfolded.

(Image: U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters) (Image: U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters)

In another, the then-Vice President is seen with his head in his hands as he makes a phone call from the secure basement.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice are also pictured in the President's Emergency Operations Center in Washington.

The highly-secure underground bunker below the White House's East Wing can withstand even a nuclear attack.

(Image: U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters)

The images, released by the US National Archives in response to a Freedom of Information request, capture the reaction of Goverment officials after 9/11 terror attacks.

Cheney watches a news report after two passenger planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Both towers later collapsed.

(Image: U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters)

A third plane struck the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. In total, 2,996 people killed.

President George W Bush was visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida, when the attacks took place.

Images from later on September 11 show a tense-looking Bush speaking with his colleagues after his return to the White House.

The images were captured by Cheny's staff photographer, PBS reported.

The photos were released by the National Archives following a FOIA request by FRONTLINE filmmaker Colette Neirouz Hanna.