Ahmad Shah Massoud: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Following the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud, who rejected the Taliban's fundamentalist interpretation of Islam,<ref name="Webster University Press Book">{{cite book | last = Marcela Grad| authorlink = | title = Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|edition=March 1, 2009 |page=310 | publisher = Webster University Press| isbn= }}</ref> returned to the armed opposition, serving as the military and political leader of the [[United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan|United Islamic Front]] (also known in the West as ''Northern Alliance''). He was assassinated, probably at the instigation of [[al-Qaeda]], in a suicide bombing on September 9, 2001, just two days before the [[September 11 attacks]] that finally caused the US and NATO to intervene in Afghanistan, allying themselves with Massoud's forces.

Massoud was posthumously named "National Hero" by the order of Afghan President [[Hamid Karzai]]. The date of his death, September 9, is observed as a national holiday known as "Massoud Day" in Afghanistan.<ref>[http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/afghanistan/events Afghanistan Events], Lonely Planet Travel Guide.</ref> His followers call him ''Āmir Sāhib-e Shahīd'' ("Our Beloved Martyred Commander").

==Early life==