Ahmad Shah Massoud

Posted by Benoit Darrieux (Clermont Ferrand, France) on 7 August 2008 in People & Portraits.

In September 2001 Massoud was assassinated, allegedly with the complicity of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, and the following year he was named "National Hero" by the order of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai. September 9th, the date of his death is observed as a national holiday, and known as Massoud Day in Afghanistan.

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.