Editing Babrak Karmal (section)

===Taraki–Amin rule===
Taraki was appointed Chairman of the Presidium of the [[Revolutionary Council (Afghanistan)|Revolutionary Council]] and [[Prime Minister of Afghanistan|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers (Afghanistan)|Council of Ministers]], retaining his post as PDPA general secretary. Taraki initially formed a government which consisted of both Khalqists and Parchamites;{{sfn|Gladstone|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aH_KCWVB6W0C&pg=PA117 117] }} Karmal became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council,{{sfn|Brecher|Wilkenfeld|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GjY7aV_6FPwC&pg=PA356 356]}} while Amin became [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]{{sfn|Gladstone|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aH_KCWVB6W0C&pg=PA117 117] }} and [[Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan|Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers]].{{sfn|Asthana|Nirmal|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8EqWnqdsgZMC&pg=PA219 219]}}[[Mohammad Aslam Watanjar]] became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The two Parchamites Abdul Qadir and [[Mohammad Rafi]], became [[Ministry of Defence (Afghanistan)|Minister of Defence]] and [[Ministry of Public Works (Afghanistan)|Minister of Public Works]], respectively.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA70 70]}} The appointment of Amin, Karmal and Watanjar led to splits within the Council of Ministers: the Khalqists answered to Amin; Karmal led the civilian Parchamites; and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar (a Khalqist).{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA70 70–71]}} The first conflict arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to military officers who had participated in the [[Saur Revolution]]; Karmal opposed such a move but was overruled. A PDPA Politburo meeting voted in favour of giving Central Committee membership to the officers.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA71 71]}}

On 27 June, three months after the [[Saur Revolution]], Amin outmaneuvered the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting,{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA72 72–73]}} giving the Khalqists exclusive right over formulating and deciding policy.{{sfn|Westad|2005|p=73}} A purge against the Parchamites was initiated by Amin and supported by Taraki on 1 July 1979. Karmal, fearing for his safety, went into hiding in one of his Soviet friends' homes. Karmal tried to contact [[Alexander Puzanov]], the [[Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan]], to talk about the situation. Puzanov refused, and revealed Karmal's location to Amin. The Soviets probably saved Karmal's life by sending him to the [[Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia]].{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QhFZHRpQdu4C&pg=PT296 296]}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kubátová |first=Kubátová |title=Z lovecké chaty do lázní. Archivy odkryly misi StB, která v Krušných horách ukrývala afghánského prezidenta |language=cs |work=iROZHLAS |url=https://www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-svet/babrak-karmal-afghanistan-prezident-velvyslanec-cssr-stb_1911101337_eku |access-date=11 November 2019 |archive-date=10 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110184128/https://www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-svet/babrak-karmal-afghanistan-prezident-velvyslanec-cssr-stb_1911101337_eku |url-status=live }}</ref> In exile, Karmal established a network with the remaining Parchamites in government. A coup to overthrow Amin was planned for 4 September 1979. Its leading members in Afghanistan were Qadir and the Army Chief of Staff General Shahpur Ahmedzai. The coup was planned for the Festival of Eid, in anticipation of relaxed military vigilance. The conspiracy failed when the Afghan ambassador to India told the Afghan leadership about the plan. Another purge was initiated, and Parchamite ambassadors were recalled. Few returned to Afghanistan; Karmal and [[Mohammad Najibullah]] stayed in their respective countries.{{sfn|Westad|2005|p=73}} The Soviets decided that Amin should be removed to make way for a Karmal-Taraki coalition government. However Amin managed to order the arrest and later the murder of Taraki.

{{Blockquote|One of the dirty faces who for years under the false revolutionary mask and false slogans wanted to seduce the youth was Babrak Karmal, a product of tyrannical and despotic rule of [[Mohammed Daoud Khan|Daoud]], the unprecedented hangman of history.|author=Excerpt from the ''[[New Kabul Times]]'', October 19, 1978, demonstrating the bitter break between the Khalq rulers and Karmal after the revolution<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&context=afghanuno |title=The Kabul Times |access-date=4 August 2021 |archive-date=26 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326124615/http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&context=afghanuno |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Amin was informed of the Soviet decision to [[Soviet–Afghan War|intervene in Afghanistan]] and was initially supportive,{{sfn|Garthoff|1994|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mGG-x_tuNUcC&pg=PA1017 1017]}} but was [[Operation Storm-333|assassinated]]. Under the command of the Soviets, Karmal ascended to power.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=99}} On 27 December 1979, Karmal's pre-recorded speech to the Afghan people was broadcast via [[Radio Kabul]] from [[Tashkent]] in the [[Uzbek SSR]] (the radio [[wavelength]] was changed to that of Kabul), saying: "Today the torture machine of Amin has been smashed, his accomplices – the primitive executioners, usurpers and murderers of tens of thousand of our fellow countrymen – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, children and old people&nbsp;..."{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=103}} Karmal was not in Kabul when the speech was broadcast; he was in [[Bagram]], protected by the [[KGB]].{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=103}}

That evening [[Yuri Andropov]], the [[List of chairmen of the KGB|KGB Chairman]], congratulated Karmal on his rise to the Chairmanship of the Presidium of the [[Revolutionary Council (Afghanistan)|Revolutionary Council]], some time before Karmal received an official appointment.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=103}} Karmal returned to Kabul on 28 December. He travelled alongside a Soviet military column. For the next few days Karmal lived in a villa on the outskirts of Kabul under the protection of the KGB. On 1 January 1980 [[Leonid Brezhnev]], the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]] of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], and [[Alexei Kosygin]], the Soviet [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)|Council of Ministers]], congratulated Karmal on his "election" as leader.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|pp=103–104}}