Ahmad Shah Massoud
Ahmad Shah Massoud (Dari/Pashto: ; September 2, 1953September 9, 2001) was an Afghan politician and military commander. He was a powerful guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989. In the 1990s, he led the government's military wing against rival militias; after the Taliban takeover, was the leading opposition commander against their regime until his assassination in 2001.

Massoud came from an ethnic Tajik, Sunni Muslim background in the Panjshir Valley of Northern Afghanistan. He began studying engineering at Polytechnical University of Kabul in the 1970s, where he became involved with religious anti-communist movements around Burhanuddin Rabbani, a leading Islamist. He participated in a failed uprising against Mohammed Daoud Khan's government. He later joined Rabbani's Jamiat-e Islami party. During the Soviet–Afghan War, his role as a powerful mujahideen insurgent leader earned him the nickname "Lion of Panjshir" () among his followers, as he successfully resisted the Soviets from taking the Panjshir Valley. In 1992, he signed the Peshawar Accord, a peace and power-sharing agreement, in the post-communist Islamic State of Afghanistan. He was appointed the Minister of Defense as well as the government's main military commander. His militia fought to defend Kabul against militias led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other warlords who were bombing the city, as well as later against the Taliban, who laid siege to the capital in January 1995 after the city had seen fierce fighting with at least 60,000 civilians killed.

Following the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud, who rejected the Taliban's fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, returned to armed opposition until he was forced to flee to Kulob, Tajikistan, strategically destroying the Salang Tunnel on his way north. He became the military and political leader of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan or Northern Alliance, which by 2000 controlled only between 5 and 10 percent of the country. In 2001 he visited Europe and urged European Parliament leaders to pressure Pakistan on its support for the Taliban. He also asked for humanitarian aid to combat the Afghan people's gruesome conditions under the Taliban. Massoud was assassinated at the instigation of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in a suicide bombing on September 9, 2001. Two days later, the September 11 attacks occurred in the United States, which ultimately led to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation invading Afghanistan and allying with Massoud's forces. The Northern Alliance eventually won the two-month-long war in December 2001, removing the Taliban from power.

Massoud was posthumously named "National Hero" by the order of President Hamid Karzai after the Taliban were ousted from power. The date of Massoud's death, September 9, is observed as a national holiday known as "Massoud Day". His followers call him "Amer Sāhib-e Shahīd" (), which translates to "(our) martyred commander". Massoud has been described as one of the greatest guerrilla leaders of the 20th century. He has been compared to Josip Broz Tito, Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara, particularly because he successfully managed to repeatedly defend his local Panjshir Valley from capture by the Soviets and later the Taliban. His younger brother Ahmad Zia Massoud served as First Vice President of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2009.
Q178440
Dari
Concept
Q58680
Pashto
Concept
Q80895
guerrilla
Concept
Q83085
Soviet occupation
EVE
Q42418
Taliban
Concept
Q483505
Tajik
Concept
Q483654
Sunni
Concept
Q47740
Muslim
Concept
Q974525
Panjshir Valley
LOC
Q2358317
Polytechnical University of Kabul
ORG
Q6186
communist
Concept
Q188667
Burhanuddin Rabbani
PER
Q189746
Islamist
Concept
Q310247
Mohammed Daoud Khan
PER
Q1261999
Jamiat-e Islami
ORG
Q42759
mujahideen
Concept
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Peshawar Accord
UNK
Q1415585
Islamic State of Afghanistan
LOC
Q2982461
Minister of Defense
ORG
Q5838
Kabul
LOC
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Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
PER
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Taliban
Concept
Q132043
Kulob
LOC
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Tajikistan
LOC
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LOC
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United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
Concept
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European Parliament
ORG
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Pakistan
LOC
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ORG
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Concept
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September 11 attacks
EVE
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North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Concept
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invading
Concept
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Hamid Karzai
PER
Q9161
Josip Broz Tito
PER
Q36014
Ho Chi Minh
PER
Q5809
Che Guevara
PER
Q974525
Panjshir Valley
LOC
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Ahmad Zia Massoud
PER
Q3246669
Vice President of Afghanistan
PER
Q200029
Ahmad Shah Massoud
PER
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2001-09-09T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 9, 2001
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2004
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2009
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