Afghans have gathered in Kabul to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Massoud fought Soviet troops and their allies in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He also led the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan commanders who fought against the Taliban in the 1990s.
He was killed by Arab al-Qaida suicide bombers posing as journalists on September 9, 2001, just two days before the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Massoud's assassination was said to be linked to the terror attacks. Some analysts say the resistance commander was deliberately killed by al-Qaida to ensure the Taliban's support after the September 11 attacks.\
On Friday, Afghan vice presidents Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Mohammad Karim Khalili joined other government officials in honoring Massoud in the Afghan capital.
(Reuters)
Officials placed wreaths at a monument that was built in memory of the anti-Taliban commander.
During the ceremony, Massoud's brother, Wali, said that he felt proud and grateful that the Afghan people commemorate the day each year.
Hundreds also mourned Massoud in his home province of Panjshir in northern Afghanistan.
Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban-led government, violence continues in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials say a car bomb killed seven people in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province late Thursday.
Elsewhere in the south, NATO says a roadside bomb killed one of its service members on Friday.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
