Amin

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Lore & Background

Amin was the main organizer of the April 1978 Saur Revolution, which overthrew Mohammad Daoud Khan and formed a pro-Soviet state. Being second in chief of the Democratic Republic, Amin soon became the regime's strongman and the main architect of state programs including mass persecution of those deemed counter-revolutionary. A growing personal struggle with General Secretary Taraki led Amin to wrest power away, depose him, and order 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). His short-lived leadership featured controversies from beginning to end: his government failed to solve the problem of population revolts, army desertions and defections continued, and he tried friendly overtures to the United States despite his reputation being tarnished by his role in the assassination of U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs. Many Afghans held Amin responsible for ordering thousands of executions; thousands of people disappeared without a trace during his time in office. The Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev was dissatisfied with and mistrusted Amin after he conducted purges against the Parcham. Soviet operatives assassinated Amin at the Tajbeg Palace on 27 December 1979 as part of Operation Storm-333, kickstarting the decade-long Soviet–Afghan War.

In Their Own Story

Born to a Kharoti Ghilzai Pashtun family in Qazi Khel village, Paghman on 1 August 1929, Amin's father died in 1937 when he was 8. Thanks to his brother Abdullah, a primary school teacher, Amin attended primary and secondary school, then Kabul University. After studying mathematics, he graduated from Darul Mualimeen Teachers College in Kabul and became a teacher, later vice-principal of Darul Mualimeen College and principal of Avesina High School. In 1957, Amin left for Columbia University in New York City, earning an MA in education. At Columbia he became attracted to Marxism and in 1958 joined the university's Socialist Progressive Club. Returning to Afghanistan, he taught at Kabul University and again became principal of Avesina High School. During this period he became acquainted with communist Nur Muhammad Taraki. Amin quit as principal of Avesina to become principal of Darul Mualimeen College. It is alleged he became radicalized during his second stay in the United States in 1962, enrolling in a work-study group at the University of Wisconsin. He studied in the doctoral program at Teachers College of Columbia University but neglected his studies for politics, and in 1963 became head of the Afghan students' association at the college, funded by the Asia Foundation, known to be a CIA pass-through group. Returning to Afghanistan in the mid-1960s, he supposedly flew first to Moscow to meet Afghan ambassador Ali Ahmad Popel. By then the PDPA had held its founding congress in 1965. Amin ran as a candidate in the 1965 parliamentary election and lost by fewer than fifty votes. In 1966, when the PDPA Central Committee was expanded, Amin was elected a non-voting member, gaining full membership in spring 1967. His standing in the Khalq faction increased when he was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the 1969 election. When the PDPA split in 1967 between Khalqists led by Taraki and Parchamites led by Babrak Karmal, Amin joined the Khalqists. As a member of parliament, he tried to win support from Pashtun people in the armed forces. Following the arrest of fellow PDPA members Dastagir Panjsheri and Saleh Mohammad Zeary in 1969, Amin became one of the party's leading members, remaining pre-eminent by their release in 1973.

Reader's Guide

From 1973 until the PDPA unification in 1977, Amin was second only to Taraki in the Khalqist PDPA. Their relationship was referred to as a disciple (Amin) following his mentor (Taraki), though this official portrayal may be misleading—Taraki needed Amin's 'tactical and strategic talents,' and Amin likely associated with Taraki to protect his own position. Amin had attracted many enemies, most notably Karmal. When Mohammad Daoud Khan ousted the monarchy in 1973 and established the Republic of Afghanistan, the Khalqist PDPA offered support if a National Front including them was established. The Parchamite PDPA had already allied with Daoud, and Karmal called for dissolution of the Khalqist PDPA, worsening relations. Some communists in the armed forces, disillusioned with Daoud, turned to the Khalqist PDPA because of its apparent independence. From 1973 until the 1978 coup, Amin was responsible for organizing party work in the Afghan armed forces. According to the official version, Amin 'met patriotic liaison officers day or night, in the desert or the mountains, in the fields or the forests, enlightening them on the basis of the principles of the working class ideology.' Amin's success in recruiting military officers lay in the fact that Daoud 'betrayed the left' soon after taking power. In 1973 it was rumored that Major Zia Mohammadzai, a Parchamite and head of the Republican Guard, planned to assassinate the entire Khalqist leadership. The alleged plot failed because the Khalqists found out. Because of this, Amin pressed the Khalqist PDPA to seize power in 1976 by ousting Daoud, but the majority voted against. In 1977, the Parchamites and Khalqists officially reconciled.

Did You Know?

• Amin earned an MA in education from Columbia University in New York City in 1957 and became a member of the university's Socialist Progressive Club in 1958.
• He was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the 1969 Afghan parliamentary election.
• Amin ordered the execution of his mentor Nur Muhammad Taraki after deposing him in September 1979.
• Soviet operatives assassinated Amin at the Tajbeg Palace on 27 December 1979 as part of Operation Storm-333.
• Thousands of people disappeared without a trace during Amin's three-month rule.