Editing Hafizullah Amin (section)

===Khalq–Parcham break===
After the Saur revolution, 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]], and retained his post as PDPA general secretary. Taraki initially formed a government which consisted of both [[Khalq]]ists and [[Parcham]]ites;{{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 a [[Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan|Deputy Prime Minister]],{{sfn|Asthana|Nirmal|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8EqWnqdsgZMC&pg=PA219 219]}} and [[Mohammad Aslam Watanjar]] became a Deputy Prime Minister. The two Parchamites Abdul Qadir and Mohammad Rafi became [[Ministry of Defence (Afghanistan)|Minister of National 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]}} According to Angel Rasanayagam, the appointment of Amin, Karmal and Watanjar as Deputy Prime Ministers led to the establishment of three cabinets; the Khalqists were answerable to Amin, the Parchamites were answerable to Karmal, and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA70 70–71]}} The first conflict between the Khalqists and Parchamites arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to the military officers who participated in the [[Saur Revolution]]. Amin, who had previously opposed the appointment of military officers to the PDPA leadership, switched sides; he now supported their elevation. The PDPA Politburo voted in favour of giving membership to the military officers; the victors (the Khalqists) portrayed the Parchamites as opportunists, implying that the Parchamites had ridden the revolutionary wave, but not actually participated in the revolution. To make matters worse for the Parchamites, the term Parcham was, according to Taraki, a word synonymous with factionalism.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA71 71]}}

{{blockquote|text=There is only one leading force in the country - Hafizullah Amin. In the Politburo, everybody fears Amin.|author=PDPA Politburo member [[Nur Ahmad Nur]] telling Soviet Ambassador [[Alexander Puzanov]], June 1978<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Intervention in Afghanistan and the Fall of Detente: A Chronology |others=Compiled by Malcolm Byrne and Vladislav Zubok |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/carterbrezhnev/docs_intervention_in_afghanistan_and_the_fall_of_detente/fall_of_detente_chron.pdf |access-date=25 July 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607230758/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/carterbrezhnev/docs_intervention_in_afghanistan_and_the_fall_of_detente/fall_of_detente_chron.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
On 27 June 1978, three months after the revolution, Amin managed to outmaneuver the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA72 72–73]}} The meeting decided that the Khalqists had exclusive rights to formulate and decide policy, a policy which left the Parchamites impotent. Karmal was exiled, but was able to establish a network with the remaining Parchamites in government. A coup to overthrow Amin was planned for September. Its leading members in Afghanistan were Qadir, the defence minister, and Army Chief of Staff General [[Shahpur Ahmedzai]]. The coup was planned for 4 September, the day of the [[Eid al-Fitr|festival of Eid]], because soldiers and officers would be off duty. The conspiracy failed when the Afghan ambassador to India told the Afghan leadership about the plan. A purge was initiated, and Parchamite ambassadors were recalled; few returned, for example Karmal and [[Mohammad Najibullah]] both preferred to stay in their assigned countries.{{sfn|Rasanayagam|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5L8CnWkACQkC&pg=PA73 73]}}