Thousands of Afghans have gathered in Kabul's sports stadium to mark the first anniversary of the death of legendary resistance leader Ahmad Shah Masood.
Throughout the city, black flags hung from shop awnings and Masood's portrait adorned windows.
A year ago, Masood, who led the Northern Alliance which held out against the Taliban in his redoubt of the Panjsher Valley north of the capital, was blown up by suspected al-Qaeda members posing as journalists.
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An Afghan boy holds a portrait of the legendary Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Masood at today's commemoration
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The charismatic 48-year-old, who also fought against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s, is a hero to his ethnic Tajik tribe, who formed the bulk of the Alliance and took many of the key positions in the post-Taliban transitional government.
His appeal is less strong among the Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, from which the Taliban drew its support.
Security was tight in Kabul after last week's assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai and a car bomb attack in the capital.
Mr Karzai, who narrowly escaped with his life when a gunman opened fire in the southern city of Kandahar on Thursday, is on his way to New York to join world leaders marking the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Hours before the assassination attempt, a huge car bomb ripped through a crowded Kabul street killing up to 26 people and injuring 150.
