Afghanistan Peace CampaignOn Saur 7, 1357 (solar calendar), following a coup by the People’s Democratic Party, the first republic regime in Afghanistan was overthrown.
Friday marks the 46th anniversary of the day the People’s Democratic Party assassinated Mohammad Daoud Khan, who had established the country’s first republic, along with 18 members of his family at the presidential palace, effectively toppling the first republic regime in the country.
The morning of Saur 7, 1357, began with the alarming sounds of cannons and gunfire.
46 years ago today, tanks and helicopters from the army stormed the presidential palace from both ground and air, marking the first coup against the first republic regime.
Sultan Mahmoud Telayie, a relative of Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, said: “A president who was trying to keep Afghanistan together, wearing a helmet, along with all his family members, was attacked at the presidential palace by the regime of the People’s Party and communists trained by the Russians, and at nine o’clock in the morning of Saur 7, 1357, all his family members were martyred.”
The coup on Saur 7, 1357 is regarded as a significant event in Afghanistan’s history and marked the beginning of years of conflict and rebellion in the country.
After the assassination of Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, Noor Mohammad Taraki, one of the leaders of the People’s Democratic Party, seized power and initiated another major political shift in Afghanistan.
This rebellion in 1358 led to the entry of the Soviet Red Army into Afghanistan, resulting in a decade-long war between the Mujahideen and the Soviets.
Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst, told TOLOnews: “Saur 7, 1357 (solar calendar) changed the course of Afghanistan; the communist coup led to the entry of the Soviet Union into Afghanistan and subsequently brought America into the Afghan internal wars.”
During these conflicts, which lasted nearly ten years, approximately two thousand military and civilian individuals in the country lost their lives, and millions more were forced to flee the country.
On April 28, 1991, the Mujahideen came to power after the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, led by Dr. Najibullah, collapsed.