Sacramento Declares September 9 as Ahmad Shah Massoud Day
The city of Sacramento, the capital of California in the United States, has declared September 9 as “Ahmad Shah Massoud Day.” The decision was announced on the 25th anniversary of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s killing and two days before the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
In an official proclamation, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty named September 9 in the city as “Ahmad Shah Massoud Day.” He also called on Sacramento residents to take part in the commemoration.
The proclamation refers to Ahmad Shah Massoud by the title “Lion of Panjshir” and describes him as one of the main figures in the fight against the Soviet occupation and later against the Taliban administration and al Qaeda in the 1990s. It also says that under the laws of the former government, he was recognized as the national hero of Afghanistan.
The Sacramento mayor’s proclamation notes that Ahmad Shah Massoud was killed in an al Qaeda suicide attack in Khwaja Bahauddin district of Takhar province two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks. At the time, he was the commander of the anti-Taliban resistance front.
Sacramento is one of California’s major cities and is home to a number of Afghan immigrants in the United States. According to the report, several other cities in California and Texas have also declared similar days in Ahmad Shah Massoud’s name in past years.
During the republic era, the anniversary of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s killing was officially marked as “Martyrs’ Day,” but after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the ceremony is no longer officially held inside Afghanistan.
