After the Taliban seized power in 1996, Massood and the other factions were forced to flee. He became defense minister of the northern alliance and spent the last five years of his life fighting the Taliban from a tiny stronghold in northeastern Afghanistan.
Massood tried to rally international support, but little came until his death and the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Only then, backed by the US bombers, did Massood's army retake Kabul.
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