69 Facts About Hafizullah Amin

Hafizullah Amin was an Afghan communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination.

Hafizullah Amin organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, ruling Afghanistan as General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party.

Hafizullah Amin ran as a candidate in the 1965 parliamentary election but failed to secure a seat, but in 1969 became the only Khalqist elected to parliament, increasing his standing within the party.

Hafizullah Amin was the main organizer of the April 1978 Saur Revolution, which overthrew the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan and formed a pro-Soviet state based on socialist ideals.

Hafizullah Amin's government failed to solve the problem of the population revolting against the regime as the situation rapidly worsened and army desertions and defections continued.

Hafizullah Amin tried to change things with friendly overtures to the United States, however his reputation in Washington was tarnished by his role in the assassination of Adolph Dubs.

The Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev was dissatisfied with and mistrusted Hafizullah Amin; they intervened in Afghanistan, invoking the 1978 Twenty-Year Treaty of Friendship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.

Hafizullah Amin was born to a Kharoti Ghilzai Pashtun family in the Qazi Khel village in Paghman on 1 August 1929.

Thanks to his brother Abdullah, a primary school teacher, Hafizullah Amin was able to attend both primary and secondary school, which in turn allowed him to attend Kabul University.

Hafizullah Amin later became vice-principal of the Darul Mualimeen College, and then principal of the prestigious Avesina High School, and in 1957 left Afghanistan for Columbia University in New York City, where he earned MA in education.

When he returned to Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin became a teacher at Kabul University, and later, for the second time, the principal of Avesina High School.

Around this time, Hafizullah Amin quit his position as principal of Avesina High School to become principal of the Darul Mualimeen College.

Hafizullah Amin studied in the doctoral programme at the Columbia University Teachers College, but started to neglect his studies in favour of politics; in 1963 he became head of the Afghan students' association at the college.

Hafizullah Amin ran as a candidate for the PDPA in the 1965 parliamentary election, and lost by a margin of less than fifty votes.

In 1966, when the PDPA Central Committee was expanded, Hafizullah Amin was elected as a non-voting member, and in the spring of 1967 he gained full membership.

Hafizullah Amin's standing in the Khalq faction of the PDPA increased when he was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the 1969 parliamentary election.

Hafizullah Amin himself said that he used his membership in parliament to pursue the class struggle against the bourgeoisie.

From 1973 until the PDPA unification in 1977, Hafizullah Amin was second only to Taraki in the Khalqist PDPA.

Hafizullah Amin had attracted many enemies during his career, the most notable being Karmal.

However, Taraki and Hafizullah Amin were lucky; Karmal's alliance actually hurt the Parchamites' standing in Afghan politics.

From 1973 until the 1978 coup, Hafizullah Amin was responsible for organising party work in the Afghan armed forces.

When Hafizullah Amin began recruiting military officers for the PDPA, it was not difficult for him to find disgruntled military officers.

The assassin was never caught, but Anahita Ratebzad, a Parchamite, believed that Hafizullah Amin had ordered the assassination.

Hafizullah Amin, who organised the subsequent revolution against Daoud, was one of the last Central Committee members to be arrested by the authorities.

Taraki initially formed a government which consisted of both Khalqists and Parchamites; Karmal became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council while Hafizullah Amin became Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Deputy Prime Minister, and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar became a Deputy Prime Minister.

Hafizullah Amin, who had previously opposed the appointment of military officers to the PDPA leadership, switched sides; he now supported their elevation.

On 27 June 1978, three months after the revolution, Hafizullah Amin managed to outmaneuver the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting.

When Hafizullah Amin became Prime Minister, he was responsible for planning, finance and budgetary matters, the conduct of foreign policy, and for order and security.

Hafizullah Amin's position was given a further blow by the democratisation of the decision-making process, which allowed its members to contribute; most of them were against Hafizullah Amin.

Hafizullah Amin succeeded in appointing two more of his allies to important positions; Mohammad Sediq Alemyar as Minister of Planning and Khayal Mohammad Katawazi as Minister of Information and Culture; and Faqir Mohammad Faqir was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in April 1978.

Hafizullah Amin tried to win support for the communist government by depicting himself as a devout Muslim.

Taraki and Hafizullah Amin blamed different countries for helping the counter-revolutionaries; Hafizullah Amin attacked the United Kingdom and the British Broadcasting Corporation and played down American and Chinese involvement, while Taraki blamed American imperialism and Iran and Pakistan for supporting the uprising.

Hafizullah Amin tried to appease the Shia communities by meeting with their leaders; despite this, a section of the Shia leadership called for the continuation of the resistance.

Hafizullah Amin likened Soviet assistance to Afghanistan with Vladimir Lenin's assistance to the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.

Shah Wali, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was a supporter of Hafizullah Amin, did not participate in the meeting.

This, according to Beverley Male, "suggested that some plot against Hafizullah Amin was in preparation".

Hafizullah Amin's trusted aid, Daoud Taroon, informed Hafizullah Amin of the meeting and the KGB's plan.

In Kabul, Taraki's aides, the Gang of Four, planned to assassinate Hafizullah Amin but failed as Hafizullah Amin was informed of their plot.

Hafizullah Amin turned down the offer, stating he would prefer their resignation rather than lunching with them.

Taroon was killed but Hafizullah Amin only sustained an injury and escaped.

Hafizullah Amin drove to the Ministry of Defence building, put the Army on high alert and ordered Taraki's arrest.

Shortly afterwards, Hafizullah Amin returned to the palace with a contingent of Army officers, and placed Taraki under arrest.

Hafizullah Amin was told by the Soviets not to punish Taraki and strip him and his comrades of their positions, but Hafizullah Amin ignored them.

Hafizullah Amin reportedly discussed the incident with Leonid Brezhnev, and indirectly asked for the permission to kill Taraki, to which Brezhnev replied that it was his choice.

Hafizullah Amin's rise to power was followed by a policy of moderation, and attempts to persuade the Afghan people that the regime was not anti-Islamic.

Hafizullah Amin's government began to invest in the reconstruction, or reparation, of mosques.

Religious groups were given copies of the Quran, and Hafizullah Amin began to refer to Allah in speeches.

Hafizullah Amin even claimed that the Saur Revolution was "totally based on the principles of Islam".

Hafizullah Amin's rise to power was officially endorsed by the Jamiatul Ulama on 20 September 1979.

Hafizullah Amin tried to increase his popularity with tribal groups, a feat Taraki had been unable or unwilling to achieve.

The total number of arrested during Taraki's and Hafizullah Amin's combined reign number between 17,000 and 45,000.

In July 1979, Hafizullah Amin announced that the DRA was not bound by old treaties with Iran regarding the distribution of water from the Helmand River.

When Hafizullah Amin became leader, he tried to reduce Afghanistan's dependence on the Soviet Union.

The Soviets were concerned when they received reports that Hafizullah Amin had met personally with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the leading anti-communists in Afghanistan.

Hafizullah Amin tried to improve relations by reestablishing contact, met with three different American charge d'affaires, and was interviewed by an American correspondent.

The situation was worsened by the KGB accusing Hafizullah Amin of misrepresenting the Soviet position on Afghanistan in the PDPA Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council.

Andropov fought hard for Soviet intervention, saying to Brezhnev that Hafizullah Amin's policies had destroyed the military and the government's capabilities to handle the crisis by use of mass repression.

The Soviet Union declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan on 12 December 1979; large numbers of Soviet airborne troops landed in Kabul on 25 December, with the approval of Hafizullah Amin who miscalculated their intentions.

The leadership of the USSR had no need for Hafizullah Amin to remain alive.

However, Hafizullah Amin survived the poisoning after being treated by doctors at the Soviet embassy, who did not know that "special reconnaissance officers" were trying to kill Hafizullah Amin.

Since Hafizullah Amin, who was very loyal to the USSR, had survived two attempted assassinations that had been approved by the USSR, the decision was made to eliminate him through a bloody coup at Hafizullah Amin's residence, the Tajbeg Palace.

Hafizullah Amin trusted the Soviet Union until the very end, despite the deterioration of official relations, and was unaware that the tide in Moscow had turned against him since he ordered Taraki's death.

Contrary to common Western belief, Hafizullah Amin was informed of the Soviet decision to send troops into Afghanistan.

Several Soviet commanders involved in the assassination of Hafizullah Amin thought the plan to attack the palace was "crazy".

Hafizullah Amin had organised a lunch for party members to show guests his palace and to celebrate Ghulam Dastagir Panjsheri's return from Moscow.

Hafizullah Amin survived his encounter with death, because the carbonation of the Coca-Cola he was drinking diluted the toxic agent.

The adjutant replied that it was the Soviets who were attacking them; Hafizullah Amin initially replied that this was a lie.

Hafizullah Amin was either killed by a deliberate attack or died by a "random burst of fire".

The men of Hafizullah Amin's family were all executed either immediately or shortly thereafter.