Ahmad Shah Massoud (; Aḥmad Šāh Masʻūd; September 2, 1953September 9, 2001) was an Afghan political and military leader, who was a central figure in the resistance against the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989 and in the following years of civil war. He was assassinated on September 9, 2001. Massoud was posthumously named "National Hero" by the order of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The date of his death, September 9, is observed as a national holiday known as "Massoud Day" in Afghanistan. His followers call him Āmir Sāhib-e Shahīd ("Our Beloved Martyred Commander").