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Ahmad Shah Massoud

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Ahmad Shah Massoud
File:Ahmad shah massoud 3.jpg
Born2 September 1953
Afghanistan Panjshir, Afghanistan
Died9 September 2001
Takhar, Afghanistan
Occupation(s)Prominent Mujahideen commander during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, afterwards Minister of Defense, and later leader of the Northern Alliance
Websitehttp://www.ahmadshahmassoud.com

Ahmad Shāh Mas'ūd (Template:PerB) (c. September 2, 1953–September 9, 2001) (variant transliterations include Ahmed, Masood, etc.) was an ethnic Tajik and a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the nickname "Lion of Panjshir". His supporters call him Amer Sahib e Shaheed, translating to our "Martyred Commander".

Ahmad Shah Massoud became Afghan Defence Minister in the early 1990s under President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Following the collapse of Rabbani's government and the rise of the Taliban regime, Massoud became the military leader of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. In September 2001 Massoud was assassinated by al-Qaeda agents, and the following year he was named "National Hero" by the order of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.

Early life

Ahmad Shah Massoud was born September 2, 1953 in Jangalak, Panjshir Valley, the son of police commander Dost Mohammad Khan. At the age of five, he started grammar school at Bazarak and stayed there until second grade. Since his father was promoted to be police chief of Herat, he attended 3rd and 4th grade at the Mowaffaq School in Herat. He also received a religious education at the "Masjed-e-Jame" mosque in Herat. Later his father was moved to Kabul so he attended intermediate and senior grades at the French lycee of Al Istiqlal in Kabul. Since his childhood, he was considered exceedingly talented; from 10th grade on, his school acknowledged him as being a particularly gifted student. His native tongue was Farsi (Dari), but he was also fluent in French, [2], Pashto, and Urdu. Furthermore, he had a good working knowledge of the Arabic language.

When studying at Kabul, in 1972, he became involved with the sazman-i jawanan-i musalman("organisation of Muslim youth"), the student branch of the Jamiat Islami("islamic society"), whose chairman was professor Burhanuddin Rabbani. This islamist organisation opposed the rising communist influence that became especially evident after the coup d'état that brought Mohammed Daoud Khan to power in 1973: the coup was orchestrated by the Parcham faction of the PDPA, the Afghan communist party.

As soon as Daoud came to power, he began a crackdown against the islamist movements, forcing those who were not arrested to flee to Pakistan. From here they organised the resistance movement, aided by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who feared Daoud's revival of the Pashtunistan issue.

In July 1975, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, then a Jamiat member, organised an uprising against Daoud's government. Massoud was in charge of stirring up the Panjshir, and had some success in this area, but the revolt was a failure, due to lack of support among the people and Gulbuddin's inability to entice officers of the Afghan army to join the rebels[1]. The ensuing repression greatly weakened the islamist movement, and forced the surviving militants back to Pakistan.

In 1976, the movement split between the supporters of Rabbani, who led the Jamiat, and those of Hekmatyar, who founded the Hezbi Islami. Massoud, who blamed the failure of the insurrection on Hekmatyar, joined Rabbani's faction.

The Soviet War

Massoud went to Nuristan and other areas where the war had just started. He wanted to find out about the Afghans' opinion regarding the war against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. As soon as he was sure about their determination he departed with a group of 20 young men to Panjshir in 1979. Still not sufficiently armed Massoud and his troops marched on to Panjshir, Massoud’s home. Their enemy was a superpower and those who were weak or required help had to be protected; especially one’s own family.[citation needed] Again, an armed insurrection in Panjsher took place, this time under Massoud's leadership. The fight lasted 40 days, during which the whole Panjshir, Salang, and Bola Ghain were in open revolt against Kabul. After these 40 days Massoud's leg was injured and the troops under his command had no more weapons and ammunition. Despite 600 relief fighters from Nooristan, the government troops finally defeated them.[citation needed]

File:Ahmad Shah Massoud - Asian magazine.JPG
Massoud in the 1970's

Narrowly escaping capture by government troops, Massoud went back to Panjshir. On pondering the outcome of the fight, Massoud decided to wage guerrilla war. Massoud is credited with having achieved control of terrain that was much more difficult to defend militarily and was under constant attack from the Soviet-Afghan Army. From that time on Massoud's name was inseparably connected with the Panjshir, earning him the nickname "Lion of Panjshir". Many people simply called him Amer Sahib (Commander) to express their affection as well as their respect.

In 1983 Soviet special troops had blocked the way out of the mountain tunnel near Malaspa in Panjshir. However, Massoud and his men managed a breakthrough and could slip away without attracting the Soviets' attention. One of the most notable of Massoud's military tactics in the Panjshir was his tendency to perform shocking manoeuvres against the Red Army. While the Red Army always outnumbered Massoud's men, they could never inflict enough damage on his forces or establish a prolonged presence because they would usually be forced by their respective governments to retreat.[citation needed]

The Fall of Kabul, April 1992

Kabul ultimately fell to the mujahidin because the factions in its government had finally pulled it apart. Until demoralized by the defections of its senior officers, the army had achieved a level of performance it had never reached under direct Soviet tutelage. It was a classic case of loss of morale. The regime collapsed while it still possessed material superiority. Its stockpiles of munitions and planes would provide the victorious mujahidin with the means of waging years of highly destructive war. Kabul was short of fuel and food at the end of winter in 1992, but its military units were supplied well enough to fight indefinitely. They did not fight because their leaders were reduced to scrambling for survival. Their aid had not only been cut off, the Marxist-Leninist ideology that had provided the government its rationale for existence had been repudiated at its source.[2]

A few days after it was clear that Najibullah had lost control, his army commanders and governors arranged to turn over authority to resistance commanders and local notables throughout the country. Joint councils or shuras were immediately established for local government in which civil and military officials of the former government were usually included. Reports indicate the process was generally amicable. In many cases prior arrangements for transferring regional and local authority had been made between foes.[2]

Through mid-1995 these local arrangements had generally remained in place in most of Afghanistan. Disruptions occurred where local political arrangements were linked to the struggle that has developed between the mujahidin parties. At the national level a political vacuum was created and into it fell the expatriate parties in their rush to take control. The enmities, ambitions, conceits and dogmas which had paralyzed their shadow government proved to be even more disastrous in their struggle for power. The traits they brought with them had been accentuated in the struggle for preferment in Peshawar.[2]

Collusions between military leaders quickly brought down the Kabul government. In mid-January 1992, within three weeks of the demise of the Soviet Union, Ahmad Shah Massoud was aware of conflict within the government's northern command. General Abdul Momim, in charge of the Hairatan border crossing at the northern end of Kabul's supply highway, and other non-Pushtun generals based in Mazari-i-Sharif feared removal by Najibullah and replacement by Pushtun officers. The generals rebelled and the situation was taken over by Abdul Rashid Dostum, who held general rank as head of the Jozjani militia, also based in Mazar-i-Sharif. He and Massoud reached a political agreement, together with another major militia leader, Sayyed Mansour, of the Ismaili community based in Baghlan Province. These northern allies consolidated their position in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 21. Their coalition covered nine provinces in the north and northeast. As turmoil developed within the government in Kabul, there was no government force standing between the northern allies and the major air force base at Begram, some seventy kilometers north of Kabul. By mid-April the air force command at Bagram had capitulated to Massoud. Kabul was defenseless, its army no longer reliable.[2]

Najibullah had lost internal control immediately after he announced his willingness on March 18 to resign in order to make way for a neutral interim government. As the government broke into several factions the issue had become how to carry out a transfer of power. Najibullah attempted to fly out of Kabul on April 17, but was stopped by Dostam's troops who controlled Kabul Airport under the command of Karmal's brother, Mahmud Baryalai. Vengeance between Parchami factions was reaped. Najibullah took sanctuary at the UN mission where he remained in 1995. A group of Parchami generals and officials declared themselves an interim government for the purpose of handing over power to the mujahidin.[2]

For more than a week Massoud remained poised to move his forces into the capital. He was awaiting the arrival of political leadership from Peshawar. The parties suddenly had sovereign power in their grasp, but no plan for executing it. With his principal commander prepared to occupy Kabul, Rabbani was positioned to prevail by default. Meanwhile UN mediators tried to find a political solution that would assure a transfer of power acceptable to all sides.[2]

Civil War

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar placed Kabul under intensive rocket bombardment. Destruction went to the extent that daily up to 3,000 rockets were shot at Kabul, tens of thousands of civilians were murdered, and the city was nearly completely destroyed. After a series of negotiations in Kabul and in Peshawar, arranged by the power players of the Afghan Civil War - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran - the warring factions failed to come to peace.[3]

Resistance Against the Taliban

As Taliban took control of around 90% of Afghanistan, the warring factions had no choice but to form an alliance called the 'United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan'. Because most factions were from the north of Afghanistan, the Western media called them the 'Northern Alliance'. The alliance consisted of warlords and tribal leaders like Haji Rahim, Commander Piram Qol, Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq, General Dostum, Qazi Kabir Marzban, Commander Ata Mohammad and General Malik. From the east were Haji Abdul Qadir, Commander Hazrat Ali, Commander Jaan Daad Khan and Abdullah Wahedi. From the northeast areas, Commander Qatrah and Commander Najmuddin participated. From the southern provinces, there were Commander Qari Baba, Noorzai, and Hotak. From the western and southwest provinces came General Ismail Khan, Doctor Ibrahim, and Fazlkarim Aimaq. From central Afghanistan Commander Anwari, Said Hussein Aalemi Balkhi, Said Mustafa Kazemi, Akbari, Mohammad Ali Jawed, Karim Khaili, Commander Sher Alam, and Abdur Rassul Sayyaf were members of this union. The alliance consisted of warlords who had been ousted by the locals from all regions of Afghanistan. The alliance was supported by India because of their rivalry with Pakistan, Iran because of their opposition to a Strong Sunni Taliban government, Russia and Tajikistan because of the growing Islamic movements in Chechnya and Central Asia.[citation needed]

In 1998, the CIA, a long time aide of Massoud, offered Afghanistan's anti-Taliban opposition leader a substantial bounty for the capture of Osama bin Laden, dead or alive. [3] The claim was further supported by former US president Bill Clinton in an interview with New York Times in 2001. Clinton said, "At the time, we did everything we can do ... I authorised the arrest and, if necessary, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and we actually made contact with a group in Afghanistan to do it."

In April 2001, Nicole Fontaine invited Massoud to address the European Parliament. In his speech, he warned that the Taliban had connections with Al-Qaeda, and that an important terrorist attack was imminent. The US and European governments paid no attention to these warnings. [4]

Death

File:Massoud commemoration in Geneva 21-10-2001.jpg
A memorial for Massoud during an anti-war demonstration at the United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland.

Massoud was the target of a suicide attack which occurred at Khvajeh Ba Odin on September 9, 2001. The attackers were two Arabs who claimed to be Belgians originally from Morocco. However their passports turned out to be stolen and their nationality Tunisian. The assassins claimed to want to interview Massoud and set off a bomb either in their video camera or in a belt worn by the cameraman while asking Massoud questions. The explosion also killed Mohammed Asim Suhail, a Northern Alliance official, while Mohammad Fahim Dashty and Massoud Khalili were injured. The assassins may have intended to attack several Northern Alliance council members simultaneously.[citation needed] One of the attackers was killed by the explosion and the other was shot while trying to escape. The news of Massoud's death was reported almost immediately, appearing in European and North American newspapers on 10 September 2001. It was quickly overshadowed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, which proved to be the terrorist attack that Massoud had warned against.

The timing of the assassination, two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is considered significant by commentators who believe Osama bin Laden ordered the assassination to help his Taliban protectors and ensure he would have their protection and cooperation in Afghanistan. The assassins are also reported to have shown support for bin Laden in their questions of Massoud. The Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mujahideen leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, an Afghan Wahhabi Islamist, have also been mentioned as a possible organizers or assisters of the assassins. [5] Massoud was a strong opponent of Pakistani involvement in Afghanistan. The assassins are said to have entered Northern Alliance territory under the auspices of the Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and had his assistance in bypassing "normal security procedures." [6]

The French secret service revealed October 16, 2003 that the camera used by Massoud's assassins had been stolen in December 2000 in Grenoble, France from a photojournalist, Jean-Pierre Vincendet, who was then working on a story on that city's Christmas store window displays. By tracing the serial number that appeared in the camera, the FBI was able to determine Vincendet as the original owner. The French secret service and the FBI then began working on tracing the route that the camera took between the time it was taken from Vincendet and the Massoud assassination.[citation needed]

After death

Massoud's tomb in the Panjshir Valley.

In 2001, the Afghan Interim Government under president Hamid Karzai awarded him the title of "Hero of the Afghan Nation". Massoud is the subject of Ken Follett's Lie Down With Lions, a novel about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Many documentaries, books and movies have been made about Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Massoud was married with four daughters and a son, and the family still carries a lot of prestige in the politics of Afghanistan. Of his six brothers, Ahmad Zia Massoud is the current vice-president of Afghanistan and Ahmad Wali Masoud is the ambassador to the United Kingdom.

A bigger mausoleum is being built in Panjsher to replace the smaller one.

The Myth of a Lion

Massoud's nickname, the "Lion of Panjshir" is a rhyme and play on words in Persian, which alludes to the strength of his resistance against the Soviet Union, the mythological exaltation of the lion in Persian literature, and finally, the place name of the Panjshir Valley, where Massoud was born. The place name of "Panjshir" Valley in Persian means (Valley of the) Five Lions. Thus, the phrase "Lion of Panjshir" which in Persian is "Shir-e-Panjshir," is a rhyming play on words.

Preceded by Minister of Defense
June 1992 – September 2001 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Roy, Olivier(1990); Islam and resistance in Afghanistan; Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-39700-6, p.76
  2. ^ a b c d e f The Fall of Kabul, April 1992- Library of Congress country studies - Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
  3. ^ The Struggle for Kabul - Library of Congress country studies - Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
  4. ^ "April 6, 2001: Rebel Leader Warns Europe and US About Large-Scale Imminent Al-Qaeda Attacks". [1]. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "The assassins" by Jon Lee Anderson. The New Yorker, Jun 10, 2002. Vol.78, Iss. 15; pg. 72
  6. ^ "The assassins" by Jon Lee Anderson. The New Yorker, Jun 10, 2002. Vol.78, Iss. 15; pg. 72
  • Jawedan.Com (A tribute to Ahmad Shah Massoud (Persian & English); at this site you find: videos, songs, articles, pictures, and anything that relates to him)

Massoud in Books and Film:

  • Stephen Tanner: Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban
  • Christophe de Ponfilly: Massoud l'Afghan (in French)
  • Steve Coll: Ghost Wars
  • Peter Bergen: Holy War, Inc.
  • A. R. Rowan: On The Trail Of A Lion: Ahmed Shah Massoud, Oil Politics and Terror
  • Ken Follett: Lie Down With Lions
  • Roger Plunk: The Wandering Peacemaker

Massoud, l'Afghan (documentary film):

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