# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/ahmad-shah-massoud
# Generated: 2026-08-15T15:34:05.718Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/ahmad-shah-massoud"
name: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
slug: "ahmad-shah-massoud"
description: "He held the Panjshir Valley against Soviet divisions through the 1980s, then spent fifteen years fighting rivals and the Taliban in Afghanistan's civil wars — until two suicide bombers posing as journalists killed him on September 9, 2001, two days before the attacks that would bring American forces into the war he'd been waging alone."
tagline: "Afghan military leader (1953–2001)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud_EP_2001_(2)_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1953-09-02"
deathDate: "2001-09-09"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           60.7
  momentum:             0.04446346624818699
  historical:           25.520784
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   150
  country:  null
  category: 108
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1679088/"
    handle:    "nm1679088"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.ahmadshahmasoud.com"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q200029"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Ahmad%20Shah%20Massoud"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87_%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF"
    title: "احمد شاه مسعود"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87_%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF"
    title: "احمد شاه مسعود"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C6%8Fhm%C9%99d_%C5%9Eah_M%C9%99sud"
    title: "Əhməd Şah Məsud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%85%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B4_%D0%A8%D0%B0%D1%85_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4"
    title: "Ахмад Шах Масуд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%85%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B4_%D0%A8%D0%B0%D1%85_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4"
    title: "Ахмад Шах Масуд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A6_%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B9_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%A6"
    title: "আহমদ শাহ মাসউদ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A6%DB%95%D8%AD%D9%85%DB%95%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7_%D9%85%DB%95%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%88%D8%AF"
    title: "ئەحمەد شا مەسعوود"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Ахмад Шах Массуд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Schah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Schah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_%C5%9Cah_Masud"
    title: "Ahmad Ŝah Masud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Masud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Masud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%E1%B8%A9mad_Sh%C4%81h_Mas%E2%80%98%C5%ABd"
    title: "Aḩmad Shāh Mas‘ūd"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Ahmad Shah Massoud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87_%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF"
    title: "احمد شاه مسعود"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_%C5%A0ah_Masud"
    title: "Ahmad Šah Masud"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C6%8Fhm%C9%99d_%C5%9Eah_M%C9%99sud"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fa.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87_%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/A%E1%B8%A5mad_Sh%C4%81h_Mas%CA%BF%C5%ABd"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ru.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%85%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B4_%D0%A8%D0%B0%D1%85_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_%C5%A0%C3%A1h_Mas%C3%BAd"
    title: "Ahmad Šáh Masúd"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Massoud was studying engineering in Kabul in the 1970s when he joined an Islamist movement, took part in a failed 1975 uprising, and became a mujahideen commander once the Soviets invaded in 1979. He defended the Panjshir Valley for a decade, earning the name "Lion of Panjshir." After the communist government fell in 1992, he signed the Peshawar Accord and became Minister of Defense, but rival warlords refused the deal and Kabul descended into civil war. When the Taliban took power in 1996, he retreated to the north and led the Northern Alliance, which by 2000 held less than ten percent of Afghanistan. He traveled to Europe in 2001 pleading for aid against the Taliban's rule, then returned home and was assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives disguised as journalists. His death came forty-eight hours before September 11; within weeks NATO forces invaded and dismantled the regime he'd fought for five years.