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Babrak Karmal

Biography

1:22

Biography of Dr. Najibullah Ahmadzai

 

1:34

Babrak Karmal Interview, 1980s - Film 98172

 

2:14

Czechoslovakia's Warm Welcome For A Communist Afghan President

 

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SYND 18 10 80 AFGHAN PRESIDENT KARMAL ARRIVES TO MOSCOW

 

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UPITN 10/02/80 STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF KARMAL BABRAK

Babrak Karmal was an Afghan politician who was installed as President of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union 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, with their ideological nemesis being the Khalq faction. Under Karmal's leadership, the Parchamite PDPA participated in Mohammad Daoud Khan's rise to power in 1973, 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, and Karmal played a major role in the 1978 Saur Revolution when the PDPA took power, though in later years he denounced it.
  • Personal 

  • Communist politics 

  • The Daoud era 

  • Taraki–Amin rule 

  • The "Fundamental Principles" and amnesty 

  • Dividing power: Khalq–Parcham 

  • PDPA base 

  • Civil war and military 

  • Economy 

  • Foreign policy 

  • Fall from power and succession 

  • Later life and death