News From the Morning Paper

The Morning Washington Post
September 11, 2001

Afghan Rebel Leader Is Victim of Bombing; Some Reports Say Attack Killed Commander Who Led Charge Against Taliban

Ahmed Shah Massoud, the guerrilla commander most responsible for preventing the radical Islamic Taliban movement from taking control of all of Afghanistan, was seriously wounded in a suicide bombing Sunday, and conflicting reports today indicated he might be dead. Two assassins posing as Arab journalists reportedly detonated a bomb during an interview with Massoud at his field headquarters in northern Afghanistan, the last corner of the nation that remains outside Taliban control, according to spokesmen for the Afghan commander. . . .

Many of Massoud's associates blamed the attack on reputed terrorist Osama bin Laden, a close ally of the Taliban who lives in Afghanistan under its protection. . . . Many sources close to Massoud said the attack was commissioned by bin Laden, a Saudi dissident who is wanted by U.S. authorities on charges of masterminding the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.