Just Two Days Before 9/11, Al Qaeda Killed Osama Bin Laden’s Biggest Taliban Rival

September 9, 2026

New Delhi: Just two days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Ahmad Shah Massoud, one of the Taliban’s most prominent opponents in Afghanistan, was assassinated. The leader of the Northern Alliance, Massoud, was killed in an attack in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on September 9, 2001. Al-Qaeda is believed to be behind the assassination.

Masoud was meeting at his hideout with two men who identified themselves as Belgian TV journalists. Despite passing security checks, the attackers reportedly concealed explosives in their cameras. The explosion during the meeting seriously injured Masood and led to his death.

Massoud was a major challenge for the Taliban

Known as the “Lion of Panjshir,” Ahmad Shah Massoud led the Northern Alliance’s fight against the Taliban. He had built a strong resistance network in northern Afghanistan and posed a significant challenge to the Taliban’s efforts to establish control over the entire country.

According to reports, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden viewed Masood as a serious threat. It is believed that Masood’s killing was intended as a measure of support for the Taliban leadership, which had sheltered bin Laden and his organization in Afghanistan.

Masood’s removal was also considered strategically important, as al-Qaeda feared the US might take military action in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.

 The CIA was also concerned by Masood’s killing

Masood’s killing also worried officials within the US intelligence agency, the CIA. CIA officer Gary Berntsen, who led one of the agency’s initial teams to arrive in Afghanistan after 9/11, later said that Masood’s death made him believe the Northern Alliance could end.

Then-CIA Director George Tenet later wrote that if the agency had not maintained contact with other leaders in northern Afghanistan, Massoud’s killing could have impacted US plans in Afghanistan.

On September 9th, Tenet met with General Mahmood Ahmed, the head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency. During discussions on the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Mahmood defended Taliban leader Mullah Omar and reportedly suggested that Taliban officials could be bribed to hand over bin Laden to the US.

Massoud’s death revealed after 9/11

The Northern Alliance officially confirmed Massoud’s death on September 15th, several days after the 9/11 attacks.

Following the September 11th attacks, the US increased pressure on Pakistan to cooperate with its campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. This led to the covert deployment of US forces to Pakistan amid preparations for US military action in Afghanistan.

The killing of Ahmad Shah Massoud, just 48 hours before 9/11, was later considered one of the key events that influenced the direction of the US-led war in Afghanistan.