Burhanuddin Rabbani

Burhanuddin Rabbani was an Afghan politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001. Born in Badakhshan, Rabbani studied at Kabul University and worked there as a professor of Islamic theology. He formed the Jamiat-e Islami at the university, which attracted then-students Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Massoud, both of whom would become leading commanders of the Afghan mujahideen in the Soviet–Afghan War. Rabbani was chosen to be the President of Afghanistan after the end of the former communist regime in 1992. His government was later forced into exile by the Taliban, and he served as the political head of the Northern Alliance, fighting against the Taliban regime. After the Taliban government was toppled, Rabbani returned to Kabul and served briefly as President until Hamid Karzai was chosen as his successor. In later years, he became head of the Afghanistan National Front, the largest political opposition to Karzai's government. On 20 September 2011, Rabbani was assassinated by a suicide bomber entering his home in Kabul.