63. Telegram From the Embassy in Afghanistan to the Department of State1
6914. Subject: Hafizullah Amin Takes Over Rule in Afghanistan. Ref: Kabul 6913.2
1. (C—Entire text.)
2. At 2000 hours, Kabul time, on September 16, Kabul television announced that Noor Mohammed Taraki had informed the Politburo of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and the Revolutionary Council that he was “sick” and could no longer undertake the duties of office. At Politburo and Revolutionary Council sessions chaired on September 16 by Foreign Minister Shah Wali, who had been the third-ranking official of the Khalqi hierarchy, those bodies decided to name Hafizullah Amin as President of the Revolutionary Council and Secretary-General of the PDPA. Amin would also retain his title as Prime Minister.
3. The television announcement also revealed that four persons had been killed at the Arg palace (“House of the People”) on September 14th. Among the dead was Sayed Daoud Taroon, Chef du Cabinet of President Taraki—and former Police Commandant of Afghanistan. [Page 181] There are rumors at Kabul, not touched upon by this television announcement, that Taraki was wounded in that same encounter.3 Flags will fly at half-mast on September 17 for “martyr” Taroon.
4. As of 2100 hours Kabul is quiet, but several tanks and nervous troops still guard the streets near the Embassy. The customary 2300 hour curfew has been announced for tonight. We have a staff at the Embassy who will continue to monitor events throughout the evening.
5. Comment: Amin now takes over undisputed control of the party and the government, having already exercised undisputed operational control since the revolution. Many of the victims of the past several days (through death and through purges), such as former Interior Minister Mohammed Aslam Watanjar and Taroon, were persons who were considered supporters of Taraki, rather than Amin. The Embassy will be analyzing these developments further in subsequent messages.4
6. Taroon’s passing will go largely unmourned. This brutal, psychopathic killer was second only to Amin in the amount of blood on his hands.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790423–0306. Confidential; Flash. Sent for information Immediate to Ankara, Beijing, Dacca, Islamabad, Jidda, Karachi for RSS, London, Moscow, USNATO, New Delhi, Paris, Peshawar, Tehran, USUN, CINCPAC also for POLAD, and CINCEUR also for POLAD.↩
- Telegram 6913 is dated September 16. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790422–1274)↩
- A message, September 17, [text and 1 line not declassified]. According to the report, Amin’s guards attempted to kill three high-ranking Afghan Government ministers, whose fate at the time of reporting was unknown. The following day, Amin and Taroon were shot at while they were walking to Taraki’s office. Taroon was killed while Amin “miraculously escaped.” Following this incident, military units “besieged” the palace, during which Taraki may have been killed. [text and 3 lines not declassified] The report further surmised that Amin took these actions without “connivance” with Moscow. (Central Intelligence Agency, Job 91T00761R, Box 2, Taraki, Nur Mohammed)↩
- See Document 65.↩