Afghanistan Leaders |
King Zahir
Last King of Afghanistan, dethroned by General Daoud in a bloodless coup where he was exiled.
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Mohammed Daoud Khan
Dethroned King Zahir, making Afghanistan a Republic, and making himself president. The Parcham faction of thee PDPA supported him. He wanted to decrease dependence on the Soviet Union and strengthen US ties, but was killed in another coup.
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Nur Mohammad Taraki
Founded People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and lead the Khalq's faction that strongly supported the Soviet Union and Communism and opposed Daoud. He lead the coup against Daoud and replaced Daoud as president/ prime minister, and began implementing strict Marxist reforms.
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Hafizullah Amin
Deputy Prime Minister to Taraki, he was a powerful member of the PDPA. He grew so powerful that he eventually took Taraki's "prime minister" title leaving Taraki only as "president" of Afghanistan. Then as civil unrest grew due to the new reforms conflicting with Islam, the major cultural influence and religion of Afghanistan, he took advantage of the situation and overthrew Taraki making himself president. He wanted to strengthen US and Afghanistan ties while moving away from Soviet influence. Hence, when the Soviet Union invaded, they killed him. (1979)
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Babrak Karmel
Leader of the moderate sector of the PDPA known as the Parchams, who strongly supported the Soviets. He supported Daoud's government. When the Soviet Union Invaded Afghanistan, they killed the leader Amin, and made Daoud the new leader of Afghanistan. However, due to Soviet occupation, he was essentially a puppet prime minister, and continued to rule with very strict laws and dicipline. When civil unrest grew, the Soviets blamed him for all the problems so he resigned in 1986.
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Mohammad Najibullah
Former head of the secret police, Najibullah was infamous for his brutality, and he became president of Afghanistan once Karmel resigned. He attempted to loosen the laws and win back the support of the people, but this failed and in 1992 he was forced into exile.
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United States
President (in order): Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan
The CIA provided aid to the mujahideen through the Pakistan's CIA, ISI The USA did this in hopes of overthrowing the Afghanistan government that was extremely close to the Soviet Union, especially once the Soviet Union invaded and put their own 'puppet leader' in charge. This goes back to the USA's containment policy.
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Soviet Union
Leader (in order): Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenkov, Gorbachev
The Soviet Union had been allied with Afghanistan once the communist party the PDPA took over. When Taraki was in office, he met with the Soviet Union in Moscow and had tried to work with them, but once Amin took office, he tried to pull away from Soviet influence. This lead the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan, assassinating Amin, and putting their own president in charge in order to strengthen the communist influence.
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Pakistan
Pakistan also aided the Mujahideen in overthrowing the communist government. Their program ISI, which is similar to the CIA, received weapons and intelligence from the CIA and provided it to the mujahideen.
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Mujahideen
Groups of "freedom fighters" were widespread and largely disorganized. They wanted to overthrow the Afghanistan government, and even declared a "jihad" or "holy war" against the government due to the harsh laws that were placed upon the people, many of which hindered the largely Muslim population from freely practicing their beliefs. Osama Bin Laden was a part of this group.
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People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
Minority political party in Afghanistan that had 2 opposing factions: the Khaliqs and the Parchams. This political party took over and created a one party political system in government. Known to have strong ties with the Soviet Union and created a communist based government for Afghanistan.
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