General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
In office 14 September 1979[1] – 27 December 1979
Preceded by
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Succeeded by
Babrak Karmal
Chairman of the Revolutionary Council
In office 14 September 1979 – 27 December 1979
Preceded by
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Succeeded by
Babrak Karmal
Minister of National Defence
In office 28 July 1979 – 27 December 1979
Prime Minister
Nur Muhammad Taraki Himself
Preceded by
Mohammad Aslam Watanjar
Succeeded by
Mohammed Rafie
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 27 March 1979 – 27 December 1979
Leader
Nur Muhammad Taraki Himself
Preceded by
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Succeeded by
Babrak Karmal
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 May 1978 – 28 July 1979
Prime Minister
Nur Muhammad Taraki Himself
Preceded by
Mohammed Daoud Khan
Succeeded by
Shah Wali
Personal details
Born
(1929-08-01)1 August 1929 Paghman, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Died
27 December 1979(1979-12-27) (aged 50) Tajbeg Palace, Kabul, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Cause of death
Ballistic Trauma
Resting place
Tajbeg Palace Grounds
Political party
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Khalq)
Spouse
Patmanah[2]
Children
24 (included Abdur Rahman one daughter).[3]
Education
Columbia University (MA)
Profession
Teacher, civil servant
Military service
Allegiance
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Battles/wars
Saur Revolution 1979 uprisings in Afghanistan Storm-333
Hafizullah Amin (Pashto: حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 1929 – 27 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), ruling Afghanistan as General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party.[4]
Born in the town of Paghman in Kabul Province, Amin studied at Kabul University and started his career as a teacher before he twice went to the United States to study. During this time, Amin became attracted to Marxism and became involved in radical student movements at the University of Wisconsin.[5] Upon his return to Afghanistan, he used his teaching position to spread socialist ideologies to students,[6] and he later joined the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a new far-left organization co-founded by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal. He 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.
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.[5] Being second in chief of the Democratic Republic, Amin soon became the regime's strongman,[7] the main architect of the state's programs including mass persecution of those deemed counter-revolutionary.[8] A growing personal struggle with General Secretary Taraki eventually led to Amin wrestling power away then successfully deposing him and later ordering his execution; on 16 September 1979, Amin named himself Chairman of the Council of Ministers (head of government), Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (head of state), and General Secretary of the PDPA Central Committee (supreme leader).[9]
Amin's short-lived leadership featured controversies from beginning to end. His government failed to solve the problem of the population revolting against the regime[10] as the situation rapidly worsened[11] and army desertions and defections continued. He 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.[12] Some Afghans, especially those from minority ethnic groups such as the Hazaras, held Amin responsible for the regime's harshest measures,[13][14] such as ordering thousands of executions, more than 7,000 of which were from the Hazara minority.[15][16] Thousands of people disappeared without trace during his time in office.[17] The Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev was dissatisfied with and mistrusted Amin; they intervened in Afghanistan, invoking the 1978 Twenty-Year Treaty of Friendship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Soviet operatives assassinated Amin at the Tajbeg Palace on 27 December 1979 as part of Operation Storm-333, kickstarting the 10-year Soviet–Afghan War; he had ruled for a little more than three months.
^"Hafizullah Amin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
^Misdaq 2006, p. 136.
^Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979–89, by Rodric Braithwaite, p104
^Halliday, Fred (February 1980). "Fred Halliday, The War and Revolution in Afghanistan, NLR I/119, January–February 1980". New Left Review (I/119): 20–41. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ ab"BBC Blogs - Adam Curtis - Kabul: City Number One - Part 4". 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^"What the CIA Did (And Didn't Do) in Soviet-Occupied Afghanistan". 26 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
^"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Kaufman, Michael T. (23 September 1979). "Taraki's Downfall Came Immediately After a Visit to Moscow". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
^"Before Taliban". Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
^"Afghanland.com Afghanistan Communism Taraki Hafizullah Amin Babrak Karmal". Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
^Kaufman, Michael T. (23 September 1979). "Taraki's Downfall Came Immediately After a Visit to Moscow". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
^Tomsen 2011, p. 160.
^"Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series / Afghanistan". country-data.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Yet many Afghans held Amin responsible for the regime's harshest measures and the Soviets, worried about their huge investment in Afghanistan might be jeopardized, increased the number of 'advisers' in Afghanistan. Amin become the target of several assassination attempts in early and mid-December 1979.
^Dorronsoro, Gilles (2005). Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present. London: Hurst & Company. p. 104. ISBN 1-85065-703-3.
^Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia by Frank Clements
^Dorronsoro, Gilles (2005). Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present. London: Hurst & Company. p. 104. ISBN 1-85065-703-3.
^World: Analysis: Afghanistan: 20 years of bloodshed Archived 17 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine - "another leader, Hafizullah Amin, gained prominence. He became president in 1979 and Taraki was killed. [...] But it was during this time that the bloodshed began in earnest. Tens of thousands of Afghans disappeared never to be seen again."
HafizullahAmin (Pashto: حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 1929 – 27 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served from September 1979 until...
HafizullahAmin, who would become a significant figure in the revolutionary Afghan government. At a press conference in New York in June 1978, Amin claimed...
The name may refers to: HafizullahAmin (1929–1979), General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan Hafizullah Shabaz Khail (born 1946)...
historical de facto leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), HafizullahAmin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also the name...
heavily fortified Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinated Afghan leader HafizullahAmin, a Khalqist of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)...
This decision was followed by a failed Parchamite coup, after which HafizullahAmin, a Khalqist, initiated a purge against the Parchamites. Karmal survived...
Taraki as the head of state and government on 30 April 1978. Taraki and HafizullahAmin, the organizer of the Saur Revolution, introduced several contentious...
Watanjar's role in the communist coup of 1978 was important. Instructed by HafizullahAmin, he initiated the march of tank forces from the 4th and 15th Tank Brigades...
gathered to hear speeches by PDPA leaders such as Nur Muhammad Taraki, HafizullahAmin and Babrak Karmal. Shocked by this demonstration of communist unity...
he was very close to HafizullahAmin, president of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1979, and was married to one of Amin's sisters. Many details...
Assadullah Amin ( Pashto اسدالله امین) was an Afghan politician and the nephew of HafizullahAmin. He was the head of the Afghan intelligence agency KAM...
Storm-333, the successful mission to assassinate HafizullahAmin, the President of Afghanistan, and to capture Amin's residential palace which triggered the Soviet–Afghan...
Afghan President HafizullahAmin, his son and over 300 of his personal guards in 40 minutes. The Soviets then installed Babrak Karmal as Amin's successor. The...
Mohammad Daoud Khan Democratic Republic (Chairman) Nur Muhammad Taraki HafizullahAmin Babrak Karmal Haji Mohammad Chamkani* Mohammad Najibullah Abdul Rahim...
Raising Ceremony in 1978, alongside President Nur Muhammad Taraki and HafizullahAmin, donning Stahlhelms from the old regime with red bands, holding the...
Ambassador to Iran during HafizullahAmin's rise to power. He returned to Afghanistan following the Soviet intervention which toppled Amin's rule and placed Babrak...
Presidium of the Revolutionary Council; Assassinated by orders of HafizullahAmin. HafizullahAmin 1929–1979 14 September 1979 27 December 1979 104 days People's...
and murdered. The post of president is taken up by Prime Minister HafizullahAmin. November 4: Islamist Iranian students take over the American embassy...
Zenyth was formed to take part in the liquidation of the Afghan leader HafizullahAmin alongside the Grom Team (Russian for "thunder") of the KGB's Alpha...
murdered and replaced by his deputy HafizullahAmin (1929–1979) of the Khalq faction in September 1979. Although Amin called himself a loyal communist,...
Mohammad Daoud Khan Democratic Republic (Chairman) Nur Muhammad Taraki HafizullahAmin Babrak Karmal Haji Mohammad Chamkani* Mohammad Najibullah Abdul Rahim...
Mohammad Musa Shafiq Democratic Republic (Chairman) Nur Muhammad Taraki HafizullahAmin Babrak Karmal Sultan Ali Keshtmand Mohammad Hasan Sharq Sultan Ali...