A master guerilla and Taliban foe

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 15. Mr. Ahmad Shah Masood, the Afghan opposition chief, who died of wounds sustained in a suicide bomb attack was the most redoubtable opponent of the Taliban fundamentalists who have won control of much of his country. The 48-year-old master guerilla commander known as ``the Lion of Panjsher'', and leader of the Northern Alliance, died of his wounds last night in a hospital in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.

Mr. Masood, the chief military obstacle to the Taliban's conquest of all of Afghanistan, was hit by splinters from a bomb detonated by two Arabs posing as journalists, his aides said. He was a military leader of charisma, who in the 1980s, symbolised the Afghan refusal to submit to Soviet occupation. Although not officially the head of the resistance led by the President, Mr. Burhanuddin Rabbani, friend and foe alike recognised that there was no other military leader of his stature in Afghanistan.

A year ago, the Taliban appeared poised to sweep their last opponents away and impose their austere brand of Islam on every corner of Afghanistan. But Mr. Masood not only rallied his forces to hold off the Taliban's 2000 offensive, he rebuilt the Northern Alliance to force the current stalemate on the battlefield. It was no wonder the Taliban wanted to eliminate him.

His brother, Mr. Ahmad Wali Masood, and the anti- Taliban opposition blamed the suicide attack on the Taliban, the Inter- Services Intelligence of the Pakistani army, and the Taliban's ally, Saudi-born militant, Osama bin Laden. Both Pakistan and the Taliban have denied involvement. There has been no comment from Osama.

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Section  : International
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