Ahmad Shah Massoud
| Ahmad Shah Massoud | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | "Brave of Panjshir" (Persian: شير
پنجشیر) Pakistani mercenary (Persian: مزدور پاکستان) PDPA supporters say |
| Born | September 2, 1953 Bazarak, Panjshir, Afghanistan |
| Died | September 9, 2001 (aged 48) Takhar Province, Afghanistan |
| Service/branch |  Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar (part of  Mujahideen) Afghan military United Islamic Front |
| Years of service | 1978–2001 |
| Rank | |
| Commands held | Prominent Mujahideen commander during the Soviet war in Afghanistan Defense Minister of Afghanistan and commander of the anti-Taliban United Islamic Front |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | National Hero of Afghanistan |
Ahmad Shah Massoud (Persian: احْمَدُ شَاهْ مَسْعُودٍ) was an Afghan military commander during the Soviet–Afghan War and later on in the civil war afterwards. He was an ethnic Tajik and a Sunni Muslim. During the civil war, he defended the capital from the Taliban, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and Abdul Rashid Dostum.
After the Taliban came to power in 1996, Massoud began an armed rebellion against the Taliban government. Massoud rejected the Talibans radical interpretation of jihadist Deobandi Sunni Islam. He became the leader of the Northern Alliance which allied with NATO during the war against the Taliban.
Death
[change | change source]On September 9, 2001, Massoud was killed by suicide bombing by the two al-Qaeda assassins under orders by the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden two days before the September 9/11 attacks in the US.