Editing Mohammad Najibullah (section)

==Early life and career==
[[File:Najibullah Taraki Karmal.png|left|thumb|Najibullah (second from right) among other communist PDPA members [[Nur Ahmed Nur]], [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] and [[Babrak Karmal]] at the funeral of former [[Parcham]] leader [[Mir Akbar Khyber]] in Kabul on 19 April 1978.]]
Najibullah was born on 6 August 1947 in the city of [[Gardez]] in the [[Paktia Province]] of the [[Kingdom of Afghanistan]].<ref name="bri"/> His ancestral village of Najibqilla is located between the towns of [[Gardez]] and [[Said Karam District|Said Karam]], in an area known as Mehlan.<ref>{{Cite web |website = [[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/4f9ac85da580def74cfa647ef4439e13 |title = Rebels Scorn Afghan Leader's Offer of Elections }}</ref> He belonged to the [[Ahmadzai (Ghilji clan)|Ahmadzai]] clan ([[Khel (clan)|Khel]]) of the [[Ghilji]] tribe of [[Pashtuns]].<ref name="MNBIO">{{cite book | author =Tucker, Spencer | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=U05OvsOPeKMC&pg=PA874 874] | title = The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts | volume = 1 | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-1-85109-947-4}}</ref>

Najibullah was educated at [[Habibia High School]] in Kabul, at [[St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Baramulla|St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School]] in [[Baramulla]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[India]], and at [[Kabul University]] where he began studying in 1964 and completed his [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery]] ([[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|MBBS]]) in 1975; however, he never practiced medicine. 

In 1965, during his study in Kabul, Najibullah joined the [[Parcham]] (Banner) faction of the [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]] ([[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA]]) and was twice imprisoned for political activities. He served as [[Babrak Karmal]]'s close associate and bodyguard during the latter's tenure in the lower house of parliament (1965–1973).<ref>J. Bruce Amstutz (1986). ''Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation.'' National Defense University. p. 76.; ''see also'' Hafizullah Emadi (2005). ''Culture and Customs of Afghanistan.'' Greenwood Press. p. 46. {{ISBN|0-313-33089-1}}.</ref>

In 1977, Najibullah was elected to the Central Committee. On 27 April 1978, the PDPA took power in Afghanistan ([[Saur Revolution]]), with Najibullah a member of the ruling Revolutionary Council; however, the [[Khalq]] (People's) faction of the PDPA gained supremacy over his own Parcham (Banner) faction, and after a brief stint as Ambassador to Iran, he was dismissed from government and went into [[exile]] in Europe, until the [[Soviet Union]] intervened in 1979 and supported a Parcham-dominated government.<ref name="bri">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Najibullah|title=Najibullah|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>