Saur Revolution

Saur Revolution
Part of the Cold War and the Afghan conflict

Troops and vehicles at the gates of the Arg (presidential palace) in Kabul on 28 April 1978
Date27–28 April 1978
(1 day)
Location
Afghanistan
34°31′31″N 69°10′42″E / 34.52528°N 69.17833°E / 34.52528; 69.17833
Result
  • PDPA victory
Belligerents
 Republic of Afghanistan People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Commanders and leaders
Mohammad Daoud Khan †
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Abdul Qadir Nuristani †
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Ghulam Haidar Rasuli †
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Sayyid Abdullah  †
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Maj. Gen Mohammad Nazim
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Maj. Gen Haji Nawaz
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) Brig. Gen Abdul Sattar Khan  †		 Nur Muhammad Taraki[2]
Hafizullah Amin
Mohammad Aslam Watanjar[3][2]
Mohammed Rafie[4]
Abdul Qadir
Mohammed Yakub
Major Khaleelullah
Nazar Mohammad
Units involved
Strength
12500 personnel[7] 1300 personnel[8]
Casualties and losses
2,000+ killed (combined)[9]
Kabul is located in Afghanistan
Kabul
Kabul
class=notpageimage|
Location of Afghanistan's capital city
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The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution (Pashto: د ثور انقلاب; Dari: إنقلاب ثور),[10] also known as the April Revolution[11] or the April Coup,[10] was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (۷ ثور, lit. '7th Saur') by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and overthrew Afghan president Mohammad Daoud Khan, who had himself taken power in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état and established an autocratic one-party system in the country. Daoud and most of his family were executed at the Arg in the capital city of Kabul by Khalqi military officers, after which his supporters were also purged and killed.[12] The successful PDPA uprising resulted in the creation of a socialist Afghan government that was closely aligned with the Soviet Union, with Nur Muhammad Taraki serving as the PDPA's General Secretary of the Revolutionary Council. Saur or Sowr is the Dari-language name for the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar, during which the events took place.[13][14]

The uprising was ordered by PDPA member Hafizullah Amin, who would become a significant figure in the revolutionary Afghan government. At a press conference in New York in June 1978, Amin claimed that the event was not a coup d'état, but rather a "popular revolution" carried out by the "will of the people" against Daoud's government.[15] The Saur Revolution involved heavy fighting throughout Afghanistan and resulted in the deaths of as many as 2,000 military personnel and civilians combined;[9] it remains a significant event in Afghanistan's history as it marked the beginning of decades of continuous conflict in the country.[16]

  1. ^ "1978: Afghan coup rebels claim victory". BBC News. 29 April 1978. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "The KGB in Afghanistan: Mitrokhin Documents Disclosed". Federation of American Scientists. 25 February 2002.
  3. ^ Afghan, Rehmatullah; Siddique, Abubakar (10 September 2020). "Afghanistan Still Facing Aftershocks Of 1978 Communist Coup". RFE/RL. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  4. ^ Afghan, Rehmatullah; Siddique, Abubakar (10 September 2020). "Afghanistan Still Facing Aftershocks Of 1978 Communist Coup". RFE/RL. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  5. ^ Azimi, General Nabi (2019). The Army and Politics: Afghanistan: 1963–1993. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-7283-8701-7.
  6. ^ Azimi, General Nabi (2019). The Army and Politics: Afghanistan: 1963–1993. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-7283-8701-7.
  7. ^ Azimi, General Nabi (2019). The Army and Politics: Afghanistan: 1963–1993. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-7283-8701-7.
  8. ^ Azimi, General Nabi (2019). The Army and Politics: Afghanistan: 1963–1993. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-7283-8701-7.
  9. ^ a b Ewans, Martin (2002). Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics. New York: HarperCollins. p. 88. ISBN 0-06-050507-9. There was, therefore, little to hinder the assault mounted by the rebel 4th Armored Brigade, led by Major Mohammed Aslam Watanjar, who had also been prominent in Daoud's own coup five years before. Watanjar first secured the airport, where the other coup leader, Colonel Abdul Qadir, left by helicopter for the Bagram air base. There he took charge and organized air strikes on the royal palace, where Daoud and the presidential guard were conducting a desperate defense. Fighting continued the whole day and into the night, when the defenders were finally overwhelmed. Daoud and almost all of his family members, including women and children, died in the fighting. Altogether there were possibly as many as two thousand fatalities, both military and civilian.
  10. ^ a b "Towards Equality: How Afghan women conquer 27% share in parliament after decades of war | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  11. ^ "An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 1: Four decades after the leftist takeover". Afghanistan Analysts Network – English (in Pashto). 25 April 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Mohammad Daud Khan". Afghanland.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  13. ^ Rubin, Barnett R. (2002). The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-0-300-09519-7.
  14. ^ Afghan, Rehmatullah; Siddique, Abubakar (10 September 2020). "Afghanistan Still Facing Aftershocks Of 1978 Communist Coup". RFE/RL. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  15. ^ AP Archive (24 July 2015), Synd 6 6 78 Afghan Foreign Minister Hafizullah Press Conference on Recent Coup, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 11 March 2018 – via YouTube
  16. ^ "An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 1: Four decades after the leftist takeover". 25 April 2018.