Ahmad Shah Massoud: Afghan military leader (1953–2001)
Ahmad Shah Massoud 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.
| Ahmad Shah Massoud | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | "Lion of Panjshir" (Persian: شیر پنجشیر) |
| 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 |
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. He was assassinated on September 9, 2001, two days before the September 9/11 attacks in the US.
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