Saur Revolution

Saur Revolution
Part of Cold War and the prelude to the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Outside the presidential palace gate (Arg) in Kabul, the day after the Saur revolution on 28 April 1978
Date 27–28 April 1978 Location Afghanistan Result PDP victory Overthrow and death of Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family Establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Belligerents
Republic of Afghanistan Presidential Guard	PDP of Afghanistan
Commanders and leaders
Mohammed Daoud Khan † Abdul Qadir Nuristani	Mohammad Aslam Watanjar Abdul Qadir Nur Muhammad Taraki Hafizullah Amin Babrak Karmal

PDP victory

Republic of Afghanistan

The Saur Revolution (Dari: إنقلاب ثور Pashto: د ثور انقلاب‎) (also Sawr Revolution) was a revolution led by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) against the rule of self-proclaimed Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan on 27–28 April 1978. The government at the time was led by Daoud, who had previously overthrown his cousin King Mohammed Zahir in 1973. 'Saur' is the Dari name of the second month of the Persian calendar, the month in which the uprising took place. The revolution led to the 1979 intervention by the Soviets and the 1979–1989 Soviet–Afghan War against the Mujahideen.

The declaration of the Afghan Republic was the precursor to the Saur coup d'état. President Daoud was convinced that closer ties and military support from the Soviet Union would allow him to settle the border issues with Pakistan. However Daoud, who was ostensibly committed to a policy of non-alignment, became uneasy over Soviet attempts to dictate Afghanistan's foreign policy, and relations between the two countries deteriorated.

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