Editing Mohammad Najibullah (section)

===Rise to power: 1985–1986===
{{History of Afghanistan}}
He was appointed to the [[People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan#General_Secretary,_Politburo_and_Secretariat|PDPA Secretariat]] in November 1985.<ref>{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA96 96–97] }}</ref> Najibullah's ascent to power was proven by turning KHAD from a government organ to a ministry in January 1986.<ref>{{cite book | author = Dorronsoro, Gilles | title = Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present | publisher = [[C. Hurst & Co|C. Hurst & Co Publishers]] | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-85065-703-3 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=3DOuOSYR4PcC&pg=PA194 194] }}</ref> With the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating, and the Soviet leadership looking for ways to withdraw, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] wanted Karmal to resign as PDPA General Secretary. The question of who was to succeed Karmal was hotly debated, but Gorbachev supported Najibullah.<ref>{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA95 95] }}</ref> Yuri Andropov, [[Boris Ponomarev]] and [[Dmitriy Ustinov]] all thought highly of Najibullah, and negotiations of who would succeed Karmal might have begun as early as 1983. Despite this, Najibullah was not the only choice the Soviets had. A [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]] report argued that he was a Pashtun nationalist, a stance which could decrease the regime's popularity even more. The GRU preferred [[Assadullah Sarwari]], earlier head of [[KHAD|ASGA]], the pre-KHAD secret police, who they believed would be better able to balance between the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks. Another viable candidate was [[Abdul Qadir (Afghan communist)|Abdul Qadir]], who had been a participant in the Saur Revolution.<ref>{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA96 96] }}</ref> Najibullah succeeded Karmal as PDPA General Secretary on 4 May 1986 at the 18th PDPA meeting, but Karmal still retained his post as Chairman of the Presidium of the [[Revolutionary Council (Afghanistan)|Revolutionary Council]].<ref name="BYE">{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA97 97] }}</ref>

On 15 May, Najibullah announced that a [[collective leadership]] had been established, which was led by himself consisted of himself as head of party, Karmal as head of state and [[Sultan Ali Keshtmand]] as [[Prime Minister of Afghanistan|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers (Afghanistan)|Council of Ministers]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Clements, Frank| title = Conflict in Afghanistan: a Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-85109-402-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C&pg=PA303 303] }}</ref> When Najibullah took the office of PDPA General Secretary, Karmal still had enough support in the party to disgrace Najibullah. Karmal went as far as to spread rumours that Najibullah's rule was little more than an interregnum, and that he would soon be reappointed to the general secretaryship. As it turned out, Karmal's power base during this period was KHAD.<ref name="BYE"/> The Soviet leadership wanted to ease Karmal out of politics, but when Najibullah began to complain that he was hampering his plans of [[National Reconciliation (Afghanistan)|National Reconciliation]], the Soviet Politburo decided to remove Karmal; this motion was supported by [[Andrei Gromyko]], [[Yuli Vorontsov]], [[Eduard Shevardnadze]], [[Anatoly Dobrynin]] and [[Viktor Chebrikov]]. A meeting in the PDPA in November relieved Karmal of his Revolutionary Council chairmanship, and he was exiled to Moscow where he was given a state-owned apartment and a [[dacha]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA98 98] }}</ref> In his position as Revolutionary Council chairman Karmal was succeeded by [[Haji Mohammad Chamkani]], who was not a member of the PDPA.<ref name="MNPP"/>

In 1986, there were more than 100,000 political prisoners and there had been more than 16,500 extrajudicial executions. Its main objectives were the opponents of communism and the most educated classes in society.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221455/http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>