Babrak Karmal

Born Sultan Hussein in 1929, Karmal was introduced to Marxism during imprisonment and became a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, leading its Parcham faction after the 1967 split. He served in parliament, helped Mohammad Daoud Khan take power in 1973, then participated in the 1978 Saur Revolution that brought the PDPA to power. When the rival Khalq faction turned on the Parchamites months later, Karmal was exiled to Prague and lived in the forests under Czechoslovak protection, hiding from Afghan assassins. The KGB brought him to Moscow in late 1979; in December Soviet troops staged a coup, killed Hafizullah Amin, and installed Karmal as head of state. His reforms - amnesty, a new flag, softer rhetoric - failed to win legitimacy, and Mikhail Gorbachev removed him in 1986, replacing him with Mohammad Najibullah. Exiled to Moscow, he returned briefly in 1991, aligned with Abdul Rashid Dostum, and may have helped topple Najibullah before leaving Afghanistan for the last time. He died of liver cancer in Moscow in 1996.