Blog by Jack Tannock, media volunteer.
September 2001 saw a devastating terrorist attack that would change the nation of Afghanistan profoundly.
The events of September 11 sent shockwaves around the world, but what is largely unknown in the west is that just two days earlier al-Qaeda carried out an attack in Afghanistan that would affect the people of that nation equally as deeply.
On September 9, 2001, Afghanistan’s national hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who had been commander in the military resistance to the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, was assassinated in a deliberate, targeted suicide bombing.
Today, September 9, is commemorated in Afghanistan as their National Day, known as Massoud Day. On this day, Afghans across the world – including many thousands in the UK – will commemorate his death and celebrate Massoud’s extraordinary life dedicated to freedom for the Afghan people.
The commander
Ahmad Shah Massoud was born September 3, 1953 in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan.
As a young man he had been an accomplished engineering student at Kabul University, who hoped one day to use his engineering skills to build a better Afghanistan.
By the mid-1970s though, he had joined the armed resistance movement; this would be a constant theme throughout Massoud’s life, as he would constantly fight for a free, tolerant Afghanistan.
Ahmad Shah Massoud took up the resistance against the Soviets. He quickly came to be seen as the leader of the resistance, inviting disparate, often feuding groups in to a more unified resistance movement.
The Soviet Union’s bloody ten-year occupation of Afghanistan came to an end in 1989 and Massoud was celebrated as ‘The Afghan who won the Cold War’.
However, his work fighting for a free Afghanistan was not over.
New struggles
After the Soviets left the country, the Communist regime finally fell in 1992, and a power-sharing agreement was reached with Massoud as Defense Minister.
However, the hard line Islamists refused to back the new government and further conflict broke out.
Massoud organised a conference to try and bring peace, but one group refused to participate. This group would eventually take control of Afghanistan in 1996. They were known as the Taliban.
Massoud’s struggle against the Taliban is well worth celebrating as he sought the most basic of human rights, rights that many of us in the west take for granted.
The Taliban regime was brutally oppressive with much subjugation of women, amongst other human rights abuses.
This prompted Massoud to once again take up armed resistance to continue to fight for the Afghanistan that he believed in: “…an Afghanistan where every Afghan finds himself or herself – irrespective of sex – happy. I am deeply convinced that this can only be ensured by democracy and a democratically elected government.”
This shows why Afghans hold him in such high regard: His dream was a dream of a better Afghanistan.
Tragic demise
The oppressive Taliban regime was finally overthrown in the autumn of 2001.
Sadly, Massoud would not live to see this, as previously stated, he was assassinated on September 9 – allegedly by al-Qaeda.
Afghanistan lost their hero on that tragic day, and that is why the Afghan people chose that day to celebrate the love and support he gave to Afghanistan in his lifetime.
In Glasgow, too, there will be celebrations of the life of Ahmad Shah Massoud. These will take place from 6pm to 10pm on Tuesday, September 10, in the Heera Restaurant on 15-17 Kent Road, Charing Cross, Glasgow G3 7EH. The event is organised by Afghans In Glasgow Group and guest speakers will include the Afghan Ambassador.
