Babrak Karmal
| Babrak Karmal ببرک کارمل |
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|---|---|
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party | |
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In office 27 December 1979 – 4 May 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Hafizullah Amin |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Najibullah |
| Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council | |
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In office 27 December 1979 – 24 November 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Hafizullah Amin |
| Succeeded by | Haji Mohammad Chamkani |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |
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In office 27 December 1979 – 11 June 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Hafizullah Amin |
| Succeeded by | Sultan Ali Keshtmand |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sultan Hussein 6 January 1929 Kamari, Kabul Province, Kingdom of Afghanistan |
| Died | 3 December 1996 (aged 67) Moscow, Russia |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan |
| Religion | Islam |
Babrak Karmal (Persian: ببرک کارمل, born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan politician who was installed as president of Afghanistan by the USSR when they invaded in 1979. Karmal was born in Kamari and educated at Kabul University. When the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed, Karmal became one of its leading members, having been introduced to Marxism by Mir Akbar Khyber during his imprisonment for activities deemed too radical by the government. He eventually became the leader of the Parcham faction. When the PDPA split in 1967, the Parcham-faction established a Parcham PDPA, while their ideological nemesis, the Khalqs, established a Khalqist PDPA. Under Karmal's leadership, the Parchamite PDPA participated in Mohammad Daoud Khan's rise to power, and his subsequent regime. While relations were good at the beginning, Daoud began a major purge of leftist influence in the mid-1970s. This in turn led to the reformation of the PDPA in 1977. The PDPA took power in the 1978 Saur Revolution.
Karmal was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, synonymous with vice head of state, in the communist government. The Parchamite faction found itself under significant pressure by the Khalqists soon after taking power. In June 1978, a PDPA Central Committee meeting voted in favor of giving the Khalqist faction exclusive control over PDPA policy. This decision was followed by a failed Parchamite coup, after which Hafizullah Amin, a Khalqist, initiated a purge against the Parchamites. Karmal survived this purge but was exiled to Prague. Karmal remained in exile until December 1979, when the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan (with the consent of the Afghan government) to stabilize the country.
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