Mir Akbar Khyber
| Mir Akbar Khyber | |
|---|---|
| Editor of the Parcham | |
|
In office 1968–1969 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 January 1925 Kabul, Emirate of Afghanistan |
| Died | 17 April 1978 (aged 52–53) Kabul, Republic of Afghanistan |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) |
Mir Akbar Khyber (sometimes spelled Khaibar) (1925 – April 17, 1978) was an Afghan intellectual and a leader of the Parcham faction of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). His assassination led to the overthrow of Mohammed Daoud Khan's republic, and to the advent of a socialist regime in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
Born in 1925, Khyber graduated from Harbi Pohantoon Military University in 1947. In 1950, he was imprisoned for his revolutionary activities. Later he was employed by the Ministry of education, until he was expelled from Paktia for taking part in a riot in 1965. After returning to Kabul, he became editor of the Parcham newspaper, Parcham, and oversaw the Parchams recruitment program in the Afghan army.
He was assassinated outside his home on 17 April 1978. The Daoud regime attempted to put the blame for Kyber's death on Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami, but Nur Mohammad Taraki of the PDPA charged that the government itself was responsible, a belief that was shared by much of the Kabul intelligentsia. Louis Dupree, an American historian and specialist of Afghanistan, concluded that interior minister Nuristani, a virulent anti-communist, had ordered the killing. However, several sources, including fellow parchamis Babrak Karmal and Anahita Ratebzad, claimed that Hafizullah Amin, a leader of the rival Khalq faction, was the instigator of the assassination. Daoud's confidant, Abdul Samad Ghaus, suggested that a strong rivalry existed between Amin and Khyber as they both attempted to infiltrate the military for their respective factions. Also, Khyber's attempts to reunite Khalq and Parcham cells within the military would have undermined Amin's power, according to communist sources.
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