Hafizullah Amin
Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher (1929-1979) · Politicians · Died at 50
Hafizullah Amin is read about 730 times a day, in 30 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to September 15, 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 360 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He organized the coup that brought communism to Afghanistan in 1978, then clawed his way to absolute power through purges and the execution of his predecessor - only to be killed by his Soviet sponsors three months later when they decided he'd become a liability.
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, Those who boast of friendship with us, they can really be our friend when they respect our independence, our soil and our prideful traditions.
You are the one who should quit! Because of drink and old age you have taken leave of your senses.
Comrade Stalin showed us how to build socialism in a backward country: it's painful to begin with, but afterwards everything turns out just fine.
Politicians born in the 1920s 6
About this person
Born in Paghman in 1929, Amin studied at Kabul University and worked as a teacher before going twice to the United States, where he developed Marxist convictions at the University of Wisconsin. Back in Afghanistan, he spread socialist ideas to students and joined the People's Democratic Party, becoming the only Khalqist elected to parliament in 1969. As the main organizer of the April 1978 Saur Revolution, he helped overthrow Mohammad Daoud Khan and install a pro-Soviet state, then became the regime's strongman and architect of mass persecution. A power struggle with General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki ended with Amin deposing and executing him in September 1979, naming himself head of government, head of state, and party leader. His three-month rule saw thousands executed and thousands more disappeared as revolts spread and the army fractured; attempts to court the United States went nowhere after his role in the assassination of U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs. On 27 December 1979, Soviet operatives killed him at the Tajbeg Palace during Operation Storm-333, launching a decade of war.
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