In August 2001 , he traveled to Central Asia to launch a humanitarian mission in the Panjshir Valley and bring to Ahmad Shah Massoud proofs of his book '' The Afghan Hawk '' . A few days later , 9 September 2001 , two days before the attacks on the World Trade Center , the Lion of Panjshir was assassinated by two terrorists of Al-Qaeda . Olivier Weber was to attend his funeral , when the Taliban launched a major offensive . His testimony and his denunciation of the Taliban regime and the rise of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan , Pakistan and Central Asia have earned him death threats . He has published several books on Central Asia and the Silk Road : '' The Great Feast of the East '' , '' The Afghan Hawk : a journey to the land of the Taliban '' , '' Memory Murdered '' , '' Road of Drugs '' , '' The White Death ''
attacks on the World Trade Center
September 11 attacks
Olivier Weber