Mohammad Najibullah

Mohammad Najibullah (1947-1996), Communist president of Afghanistan (1987-1992). Najibullah was born in Paktīā Province, a member of the Pashtun ethnic group. As a young man he became active in the pro-Soviet Parcham faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). At Kābul University, where he studied medicine for several years, he organized students for Parcham.

In 1978 the rival Khalq faction of the PDPA came to power in a coup, and Najibullah was sent away from Kābul, first as an ambassador to Iran and later to France and Russia. Rebels opposed to the government’s radical policies soon gained power in Afghanistan, prompting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to invade in December 1979. The Soviets executed the Khalq president and installed Babrak Karmal, the leader of the more moderate Parcham faction, as president. Najibullah returned home and soon was placed in charge of the secret police. In 1981 he was made a member of the ruling Politburo, and in 1986 he succeeded Karmal as general secretary of the PDPA. In November 1987 Najibullah was elected president.

Najibullah tried to end the damaging factionalism within his party and attempted to convince some of his rebel opponents to support the government. A few of the rebel commanders formed militias supporting the PDPA but the fighting continued. In 1988 the Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, and in 1989, with the withdrawal complete, the rebels stepped up their offensive. Initially Najibullah’s government survived the attacks, but their position deteriorated. Najibullah offered to resign if an interim government could be formed. But when the United Nations (UN) drafted a plan for such a government, he accused his opponents of violating the terms and reclaimed his authority. Najibullah eventually lost the support of the army and in April 1992, while trying to fly out of Kābul, he was thwarted and forced to take refuge in the office of the UN mission. Successive governments refused to allow him to leave the country, insisting he be placed on trial for war crimes. In September 1996, after Taliban rebels had taken Kābul, Najibullah was seized from the UN mission and hanged in a public place.