 After the fall of Kabul in 1996 he remained loyal to Massoud, and was instrumental in preventing the Taliban from taking the Panjshir valley.General Gul Haidar commanded up to 1000 Afghan troops fighting alongside the Americans in the battles of Shah-e-Kot in Eastern Afghanistan in March 2002.He was at the time the Ministry of Defense Commander for 4 southern provinces including Paktika, Paktya and Ghazni.