Tuesday, Sept. 9, marks the 24th anniversary of the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed commander who led resistance efforts against both the Soviet occupation and the Taliban regime. Known as the “Lion of Panjshir,” Massoud was named a national hero by Afghanistan’s former government.
Massoud was killed on Sept. 9, 2001 — two days before the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York — in a suicide bombing carried out by two men posing as journalists in the northeastern province of Takhar. The attackers were believed to be linked to Al Qaeda.
From 1979 to 1989, Massoud played a leading role in the resistance against Soviet forces.
On Tuesday, the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, a group comprising many former mujahideen leaders, issued a statement commemorating Massoud’s legacy. The council emphasized his commitment to “a just peace, Islamic and human values, national unity, and Afghanistan’s independence from foreign dominance.”
The statement praised Massoud’s leadership during the first Taliban regime in the 1990s, highlighting his role in establishing a national resistance front. It noted that his struggle kept “the flame of freedom, dignity, and justice” alive in the hearts of Afghans.
The council added that in the face of what it described as “despotism and regression” under the current Taliban regime, Massoud’s memory continues to serve as a guiding light for Afghanistan’s future.
Calling on Afghanistan’s youth, intellectuals and civil society — particularly women — to unite around Massoud’s ideals, the group said the burden now lies with the next generation to carry forward the fight for justice, civil rights, and national sovereignty.
The Jamiat-e-Islami party, once led by Burhanuddin Rabbani and now headed by his son, Salahuddin Rabbani, also marked the anniversary. In a statement, the party called on Afghan political factions to reexamine the political and intellectual legacies of both Massoud and Rabbani, warning against authoritarianism and political exclusion.
Massoud was also an advocate for women’s education and participation in public life — a stance that set him apart from many other leaders during Afghanistan’s decades of conflict. “We not only do not oppose women’s education and work,” he once said, “we actively support and encourage it.”
Massoud had returned from a trip to France just months before his assassination. His killing by Moroccan suicide bombers — who had gained access to him under the guise of conducting a television interview — was followed just two days later by the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, further intertwining his fate with the trajectory of global politics.
Two dozen years later, the Taliban have returned to power, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and reversing many of the societal gains made in the two decades following Massoud’s death.
