Mohammad Najibullah

File:Najibullah Taraki Karmal.png, Nur Muhammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal at the funeral of former Parcham leader Mir Akbar Khyber in Kabul on 19 April 1978.]]

Najibullah was born on 6 August 1947 in the city of Gardez in the Paktia Province of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. His ancestral village of Najibqilla is located between the towns of Gardez and Said Karam, in an area known as Mehlan.{{Cite web |website = Associated Press |url=https://apnews.com/4f9ac85da580def74cfa647ef4439e13 |title = Rebels Scorn Afghan Leader's Offer of Elections }} He belonged to the Ahmadzai clan (Khel) of the Ghilji tribe of Pashtuns.{{cite book | author =Tucker, Spencer | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=U05OvsOPeKMC&pg=PA874 874] | title = The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts | volume = 1 | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-1-85109-947-4}}

Najibullah was educated at Habibia High School in Kabul, at St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, India, and at Kabul University where he began studying in 1964 and completed his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1975; however, he never practiced medicine.

In 1965, during his study in Kabul, Najibullah joined the Parcham (Banner) faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and was twice imprisoned for political activities. He served as Babrak Karmal's close associate and bodyguard during the latter's tenure in the lower house of parliament (1965–1973).J. Bruce Amstutz (1986). Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. National Defense University. p. 76.; see also Hafizullah Emadi (2005). Culture and Customs of Afghanistan. Greenwood Press. p. 46. {{ISBN|0-313-33089-1}}.

In 1977, Najibullah was elected to the Central Committee. On 27 April 1978, the PDPA took power in Afghanistan (Saur Revolution), with Najibullah a member of the ruling Revolutionary Council; however, the Khalq (People's) faction of the PDPA gained supremacy over his own Parcham (Banner) faction, and after a brief stint as Ambassador to Iran, he was dismissed from government and went into exile in Europe, until the Soviet Union intervened in 1979 and supported a Parcham-dominated government.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Najibullah|title=Najibullah|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2020}}

In 1980, Najibullah was appointed the head of KHAD, the Afghan equivalent to the Soviet KGB, and was promoted to the rank of Major General. He was appointed following lobbying from the Soviets, including Yuri Andropov, then KGB Chairman. During his six years as head of KHAD he had two to four deputies under his command, who in turn were responsible for an estimated 12 departments. According to evidence, Najibullah was dependent on his family and his professional network, and more often than not appointed people he knew to top positions within the KHAD.{{cite book | author = Dorronsoro, Gilles | title = Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present | publisher = C. Hurst & Co Publishers | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-85065-703-3 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=3DOuOSYR4PcC&pg=PA178 178] }} In June 1981, Najibullah, along with Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, a former tank commander and the then Minister of Communications and Major General Mohammad Rafi, the Minister of Defence were appointed to the PDPA Politburo.{{cite book |author1=Weiner, Myron |author2=Banuazizi, Ali | title = The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan | publisher = Syracuse University Press | year = 1994 | isbn = 978-0-8156-2608-4 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=TmMJnaMVN6oC&pg=PA47 47] }}

Under Najibullah, KHAD's personnel increased from 120 to 25,000 to 30,000.{{cite book |author1=Kakar, Hassan |author2=Kakar, Mohammed | title = Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982 | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-520-20893-3 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=QyTmFj5tUGsC&pg=PA156 156] }} KHAD employees were amongst the best-paid government bureaucrats in communist Afghanistan, and because of it, the political indoctrination of KHAD officials was a top priority. During a PDPA conference, Najibullah, talking about the indoctrination programme of KHAD officials, said "a weapon in one hand, a book in the other."{{cite book | author = Amtstutz, J. Bruce | title = Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation | publisher = Diane Publishing | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7881-1111-6 | page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RUSNyMH1aFQC/page/n289 266] }} Counter-insurgency activities launched by KHAD reached its peak under Najibullah.{{cite book | author = Amtstutz, J. Bruce | title = Afghanistan: Past and Present | publisher = Diane Publishing | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7881-1111-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=a0Mp1AHpp0gC&pg=PA152 152] }} He reported directly to the Soviet KGB, and a big part of KHAD's budget came from the Soviet Union itself.{{cite book | author = Girardet, Edward | title = Afghanistan: The Soviet War | publisher = Taylor & Francis | year = 1985 | isbn = 978-0-7099-3802-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=1c0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA124 124] }} As the head of KHAD, Najibullah was also involved in the planning of the hijacking of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 326 with Murtaza Bhutto.{{Cite web |last=Mitrokhin |first=Vasiliy |date=July 2002 |title=The KGB in Afghanistan |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/WP40-english.pdf |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars |page=136}}

As time would show, Najibullah was very efficient, and during his tenure as leader of KHAD, thousands were arrested, tortured, and executed. KHAD targeted anti-communist citizens, political opponents, and educated members of society. It was this efficiency which made him interesting to the Soviets. Because of this, KHAD became known for its ruthlessness. During his ascension to power, several Afghan politicians did not want Najibullah to succeed Babrak Karmal because Najibullah was known for exploiting his powers for his own benefit. Additionally, during his period as KHAD chief, the Pul-i Charki had become the home of several Khalqist politicians. Another problem was that Najibullah allowed graft, theft, bribery and corruption on a scale not seen previously.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA275 275] }} As would later be proven by the power struggle he had with Karmal after becoming PDPA General Secretary, despite Najibullah heading the KHAD for five years, Karmal still had sizeable support in the parcham faction leading to Najibullah relying more on Khalqists.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA106 106] }}

{{History of Afghanistan}}

He was appointed to the PDPA Secretariat in November 1985.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA96 96–97] }} Najibullah's ascent to power was proven by turning KHAD from a government organ to a ministry in January 1986.{{cite book | author = Dorronsoro, Gilles | title = Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present | publisher = C. Hurst & Co Publishers | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-85065-703-3 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=3DOuOSYR4PcC&pg=PA194 194] }} With the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating, and the Soviet leadership looking for ways to withdraw, Mikhail Gorbachev wanted Karmal to resign as PDPA General Secretary. The question of who was to succeed Karmal was hotly debated, but Gorbachev supported Najibullah.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA95 95] }} Yuri Andropov, Boris Ponomarev and Dmitriy Ustinov all thought highly of Najibullah, and negotiations of who would succeed Karmal might have begun as early as 1983. Despite this, Najibullah was not the only choice the Soviets had. A GRU report argued that he was a Pashtun nationalist, a stance which could decrease the regime's popularity even more. The GRU preferred Assadullah Sarwari, earlier head of ASGA, the pre-KHAD secret police, who they believed would be better able to balance between the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks. Another viable candidate was Abdul Qadir, who had been a participant in the Saur Revolution.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA96 96] }} Najibullah succeeded Karmal as PDPA General Secretary on 4 May 1986 at the 18th PDPA meeting, but Karmal still retained his post as Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA97 97] }}

On 15 May, Najibullah announced that a collective leadership had been established, which was led by himself consisted of himself as head of party, Karmal as head of state and Sultan Ali Keshtmand as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.{{cite book | author = Clements, Frank| title = Conflict in Afghanistan: a Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-85109-402-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C&pg=PA303 303] }} When Najibullah took the office of PDPA General Secretary, Karmal still had enough support in the party to disgrace Najibullah. Karmal went as far as to spread rumours that Najibullah's rule was little more than an interregnum, and that he would soon be reappointed to the general secretaryship. As it turned out, Karmal's power base during this period was KHAD. The Soviet leadership wanted to ease Karmal out of politics, but when Najibullah began to complain that he was hampering his plans of National Reconciliation, the Soviet Politburo decided to remove Karmal; this motion was supported by Andrei Gromyko, Yuli Vorontsov, Eduard Shevardnadze, Anatoly Dobrynin and Viktor Chebrikov. A meeting in the PDPA in November relieved Karmal of his Revolutionary Council chairmanship, and he was exiled to Moscow where he was given a state-owned apartment and a dacha.{{cite book | author = Kalinovsky, Artemy | title = A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-674-05866-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=rf1Yg2SGLQgC&pg=PA98 98] }} In his position as Revolutionary Council chairman Karmal was succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani, who was not a member of the PDPA.

In 1986, there were more than 100,000 political prisoners and there had been more than 16,500 extrajudicial executions. Its main objectives were the opponents of communism and the most educated classes in society.{{Cite web |url=http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221455/http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}

{{main|National Reconciliation (Afghanistan)}}

File:Najib Belgrade.png Conference in 1989]]

In September 1986, the National Compromise Commission (NCC) was established on the orders of Najibullah. The NCC's goal was to contact counter-revolutionaries "in order to complete the Saur Revolution in its new phase." Allegedly, an estimated 40,000 rebels were contacted by the government. At the end of 1986, Najibullah called for a six-months ceasefire and talks between the various opposition forces, this was part of his policy of National Reconciliation. The discussions, if fruitful, would lead to the establishment of a coalition government and be the end of the PDPA's monopoly of power. The programme failed, but the government was able to recruit disillusioned mujahideen fighters as government militias. A number of prominent Mujahideen commanders defected to the government, such as Ismatullah Muslim in Kandahar, Fazal Ahmad in Herat, and Juma Khan in Andarab with a large number of their followers in exchange for cash. Many more Mujahideen joined the government’s tribal militias, some of them being incorporated into the Afghan Army as divisions.{{Cite book |last=Urban |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jVuAAAAMAAJ |title=War in Afghanistan |date=1990 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-51478-8 |language=en}} In many ways, the National Reconciliation led to an increasing number of urban dwellers to support his rule, and the stabilisation of the Afghan Armed Forces.{{cite book | author = Amtstutz, J. Bruce | title = Afghanistan: Past and Present | publisher = DIANE Publishing | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7881-1111-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=a0Mp1AHpp0gC&pg=PA153 153] }}

In September 1986, a new constitution was written, which was adopted on 29 November 1987.{{cite book | author = Otto, Jan Michiel | title = Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present | publisher = Amsterdam University Press | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-90-8728-057-4 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=8ep7cX3ma0sC&pg=PA289 289] }} The constitution weakened the powers of the head of state by cancelling his absolute veto. The reason for this move, according to Najibullah, was the need for real-power sharing. On 13 July 1987, the official name of Afghanistan was changed from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan to Republic of Afghanistan, and in June 1988 the Revolutionary Council, whose members were elected by the party leadership, was replaced by a National Assembly, an organ in which members were to be elected by the people. The PDPA's socialist stance was denied even more than previously, in 1989 the Minister of Higher Education began to work on the "de-Sovietisation" of universities, and in 1990 it was even announced by a party member that all PDPA members were Muslims and that the party had abandoned Marxism. Many parts of the Afghan government's economic monopoly was also broken, this had more to do with the tight situation than any ideological conviction. Abdul Hakim Misaq, the Mayor of Kabul, even stated that traffickers of stolen goods would not be prosecuted by law as long as their goods were given to the market. Yuli Vorontsov, on Gorbachev's orders, was able to get an agreement with the PDPA leadership to offer the posts of Gossoviet chairman (the state planning organ), the Council of Ministers chairmanship (head of government), ministries of defence, state security, communications, finance, presidencies of banks and the Supreme Court. The PDPA still demanded it held on to all deputy ministers, retained its majority in the state bureaucracy and that it retained all its provincial governors.{{cite book | author = Giustozzi, Antonio | title = War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978–1992 | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-85065-396-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz5NzJtg48kC&pg=PA155 155] }} The government was not willing to concede all of these positions, and when the offer was broadcast, the ministries of defence and state security.{{cite book | author = Giustozzi, Antonio | title = War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978–1992 | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-85065-396-7 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz5NzJtg48kC&pg=PA156 155–156] }}

Local elections were held in 1987. It began when the government introduced a law permitting the formation of other political parties, announced that it would be prepared to share power with representatives of opposition groups in the event of a coalition government, and issued a new constitution providing for a new bicameral National Assembly (Meli Shura), consisting of a Senate (Sena) and a House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga), and a president to be indirectly elected to a 7-year term.{{cite book | title = Regional Surveys of the World: Far East and Australasia 2003 | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-85743-133-9 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=e5Az1lGCJwQC&pg=PA65 65] }} The new political parties had to oppose colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, Zionism, racial discrimination, apartheid and fascism. Najibullah stated that only the extremist part of the opposition could not join the planned coalition government. No parties had to share the PDPA's policy or ideology, but they could not oppose the bond between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. A parliamentary election was held in 1988. The PDPA won 46 seats in the House of Representatives and controlled the government with support from the National Front, which won 45 seats, and from various newly recognized left-wing parties, which had won a total of 24 seats. Although the election was boycotted by the Mujahideen, the government left 50 of the 234 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a small number of seats in the Senate, vacant in the hope that the guerrillas would end their armed struggle and participate in the government. The only armed opposition party to make peace with the government was Hizbollah, a small Shi'a party not to be confused with the bigger party in Iran or the Lebanese organization.{{cite book | author = Giustozzi, Antonio | title = War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978–1992 | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-85065-396-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz5NzJtg48kC&pg=PA161 161] }}

Several figures of the intelligentsia took Najibullah's offer seriously, even if they sympathised or were against the regime. Their hopes were dampened when the Najibullah government introduced the state of emergency on 18 February 1989, four days after the Soviet withdrawal due to a mujahideen offensive starting to take shape in Nangarhar Province, later leading to the Battle of Jalalabad.{{Cite web |last=Fleiss |first=Alex |date=1 May 2024 |title=What happened in the battle of Jalalabad? |url=https://www.rebellionresearch.com/what-happened-in-the-battle-of-jalalabad |access-date=5 February 2025 |website=Rebellion Research |language=en-US}} 1,700 intellectuals were arrested in February alone, and until November 1991 the government still supervised and restricted freedom of speech. Another problem was that party members took his policy seriously too, Najibullah recanted that most party members felt "panic and pessimism". At the Second Conference of the party, the majority of members, maybe up to 60 percent, were radical socialists. According to Soviet advisors (in 1987), a bitter debate within the party had broken out between those who advocated the Islamisation of the party and those who wanted to defend the gains of the Saur Revolution. Opposition to his policy of National Reconciliation was met party-wide, but especially from Karmalists. Many people did not support the handing out of the already small state resources the Afghan state had at its disposal. On the other side, several members were proclaiming anti-Soviet slogans as they accused the National Reconciliation programme to be supported and developed by the Soviet Union.{{cite book | author = Giustozzi, Antonio | title = War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978–1992 | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-85065-396-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz5NzJtg48kC&pg=PA156 156] }} Najibullah reassured the inter-party opposition that he would not give up the gains of the Saur Revolution, but to the contrary, preserve them, not give up the PDPA's monopoly on power, or to collaborate with reactionary Mullahs.{{cite book | author = Giustozzi, Antonio | title = War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978–1992 | publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-85065-396-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz5NzJtg48kC&pg=PA157 157] }}

During Babrak Karmal's later years, and during Najibullah's tenure, the PDPA tried to improve their standing with Muslims by moving, or appearing to move, to the political centre. They wanted to create a new image for the party and state. Communist symbols were either replaced or removed. These measures did not contribute to any notable increase in support for the government, because the mujahideen had a stronger legitimacy to protect Islam than the government; they had rebelled against what they saw as an anti-Islamic government, that government was the PDPA.{{cite book |last = Riaz | first = Ali | author-link = Ali Riaz | title = Religion and politics in South Asia | publisher = Taylor & Francis | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0-415-77800-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=vzI8e-zJf5YC&pg=PA34 34] }} Islamic principles were embedded in the 1987 constitution, for instance, Article 2 of the constitution stated that Islam was the state religion, and Article 73 stated that the head of state had to be born into a Muslim Afghan family. The 1990 constitution stated that Afghanistan was an Islamic state, and the last references to communism were removed.{{cite book | author = Yassari, Nadjma | title = The Sharīʻa in the Constitutions of Afghanistan, Iran, and Egypt: Implications for Private Law | publisher = Mohr Siebeck | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-3-16-148787-3 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=CMGfLzYWeW4C&pg=PA15 15] }} Article 1 of the 1990 Constitution said that Afghanistan was an "independent, unitary and Islamic state." In 1990, Najibullah abolished the Democratic Women's Organisation of Afghanistan, eradicating their Marxist rhetoric as early as 1986, and replaced it with the apolitical Afghan Women's Council, which is still in existence.{{Cite book |last=Moghadam |first=Valentine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iKsSEulnPTsC&dq=Firuza+Wardak&pg=PA70 |title=From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women's Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia |date=2007-06-18 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-3111-8 |language=en}}

In 1992, Najibullah appealed to the United States to help Afghanistan become a bulwark against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. He said: “If fundamentalism comes to Afghanistan, war will continue for many more years. Afghanistan will turn into a centre of world smuggling for narcotic drugs. Afghanistan will be turned into a centre for terrorism”.{{Cite news |last=Najibullah |first=Muska |date=27 September 2021 |title=My father was brutally killed by the Taliban. The US ignored his pleas for help |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/27/father-killed-taliban-us-ignored-pleas-daughter-afghan-president |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Najibullah continued Karmal's economic policies. The augmenting of links with the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union continued, and so did bilateral trade. He encouraged the development of the private sector in industry. The Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan which was introduced in January 1986 continued until March 1992, one month before the government's fall. According to the plan, the economy, which had grown less than 2 percent annually until 1985, would grow 25 percent in the plan. Industry would grow 28 percent, agriculture 14–16 percent, domestic trade by 150 percent and foreign trade with 15 percent. As expected, none of these targets were met, and 2 percent growth annually which had been the norm before the plan continued under Najibullah.{{cite book | title = Regional Surveys of the World: Far East and Australasia 2003 | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-85743-133-9 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=e5Az1lGCJwQC&pg=PA83 83] }} The 1990 constitution gave due attention to the private sector. Article 20 was about the establishment of private firms, and Article 25 encouraged foreign investments in the private sector.

{{Main|Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan}}

While he may have been the de jure leader of Afghanistan, Soviet advisers still did the majority of work when Najibullah took power. As Gorbachev remarked "We're still doing everything ourselves [...]. That's all our people know how to do. They've tied Najibullah hand and foot." Fikryat Tabeev, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, was accused of acting like a governor general by Gorbachev. Tabeev was recalled from Afghanistan in July 1986, but while Gorbachev called for the end of Soviet management of Afghanistan, he could not help but to do some managing himself. At a Soviet Politburo meeting, Gorbachev said "It's difficult to build a new building out of old material [...] I hope to God that we haven't made a mistake with Najibullah."{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA276 276] }} As time would prove, the problem was that Najibullah's aims were the opposite of the Soviet Union's; Najibullah was opposed to a Soviet withdrawal, the Soviet Union wanted a Soviet withdrawal. This was logical, considering the fact that the Afghan military was on the brink of dissolution. The only means of survival seemed to Najibullah was to retain the Soviet presence. In July 1986 six regiments, which consisted up to 15,000 troops, were withdrawn from Afghanistan. The aim of this early withdrawal was, according to Gorbachev, to show the world that the Soviet leadership was serious about leaving Afghanistan.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA277 277] }} The Soviets told the United States Government that they were planning to withdraw, but the United States Government did not believe them. When Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan during his visit the United States, Reagan called for the dissolution of the Afghan army.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA280 280] }}

File:RIAN archive 12070 Najibullah giving decorations.jpg

On 14 April 1988, the Afghan and Pakistani governments signed the Geneva Accords, and the Soviet Union and the United States signed as guarantors; the treaty specifically stated that the Soviet military had to withdraw from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989. Gorbachev later confided to Anatoly Chernyaev, a personal advisor to Gorbachev, that the Soviet withdrawal would be criticised for creating a bloodbath which could have been averted if the Soviets stayed.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA281 281] }} During a Politburo meeting Eduard Shevardnadze said "We will leave the country in a deplorable situation", and further talked about the economic collapse, and the need to keep at least 10 to 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. In this Vladimir Kryuchkov, the KGB Chairman, supported him. This stance, if implemented, would be a betrayal of the Geneva Accords just signed.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA282 282] }} During the second phase of the Soviet withdrawal, in 1989, Najibullah told Valentin Varennikov openly that he would do everything to slow down the Soviet departure. Varennikov in turn replied that such a move would not help, and would only lead to an international outcry against the war. Najibullah would repeat his position later that year, to a group of senior Soviet representatives in Kabul. This time Najibullah stated that Ahmad Shah Massoud was the main problem, and that he needed to be killed. In this, the Soviets agreed,{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA285 285] }} but repeated that such a move would be a breach of the Geneva Accords; to hunt for Ahmad Shah Massoud so early on would disrupt the withdrawal, and would mean that the Soviet Union would fail to meet its deadline for withdrawal.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA286 286] }}

During his January 1989 visit to Shevardnadze, Najibullah wanted to retain a small presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and called for moving Soviet bombers to military bases close to the Afghan–Soviet border and place them on permanent alert.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA287 287] }} Najibullah also repeated his claims that his government could not survive if Ahmad Shah Massoud remained alive. Shevardnadze again repeated that troops could not stay, since it would lead to international outcry, but said he would look into the matter. Shevardnadze demanded that the Soviet embassy created a plan in which at least 12,000 Soviet troops would remain in Afghanistan either under direct control of the United Nations or remain as "volunteers".{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA288 288] }} The Soviet military leadership, when hearing of Shevardnadze's plan, became furious. But they followed orders, and named the operation Typhoon, maybe ironic considering that Operation Typhoon was the German military operation against the city of Moscow during World War II. Shevardnadze contacted the Soviet leadership about moving a unit to break the siege of Kandahar, and to protect convoys from and to the city. The Soviet leadership were against Shevardnadze's plan, and Chernyaev even believed it was part of Najibullah's plan to keep Soviet troops in the country. To which Shevardnadze replied angrily "You've not been there, [...] You've no idea all the things we have done there in the past ten years." At a Politburo meeting on 24 January, Shevardnadze argued that the Soviet leadership could not be indifferent to Najibullah and his government; again, Shevardnadze received support from Kryuchkov. In the end Shevardnadze lost the debate, and the Politburo reaffirmed their commitment to withdraw from Afghanistan.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA289 289] }} There was still a small presence of Soviet troops after the Soviet withdrawal; for instance, parachutists who protected the Soviet embassy staff, military advisors and special forces and reconnaissance troops still operated in the "outlying provinces", especially along the Afghan–Soviet border.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA294 294] }}

Soviet military aid continued after their withdrawal, and massive quantities of food, fuel, ammunition and military equipment was given to the government. Varennikov visited Afghanistan in May 1989 to discuss ways and means to deliver the aid to the government. In 1990, Soviet aid amounted to an estimated 3 billion United States dollars. As it turned out, the Afghan military was entirely dependent on Soviet aid to function.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA296 296] }} When the Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December 1991, Najibullah turned to former Soviet Central Asia for aid. These newly independent states had no wish to see Afghanistan being taken over by religious fundamentalists, and supplied Afghanistan with 6 million barrels of oil and 500,000 tons of wheat to survive the winter.{{cite book | author = Hiro, Dilip | title = War Without End: The Rise of Islamist terrorism and Global Response | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-415-28802-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=JsFVOiXbad0C&pg=PA230 230] }}

{{further|Afghan Civil War (1989–92)}}

With the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989, the Afghan army was left on its own to battle the insurgents. The most effective, and largest, assaults on the mujahideen were undertaken during the 1985–86 period. These offensives had forced the mujahideen on the defensive near Herat and Kandahar.{{cite book | author = Amtstutz, J. Bruce | title = Afghanistan: Past and Present | publisher = DIANE Publishing | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7881-1111-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=a0Mp1AHpp0gC&pg=PA151 151] }} The Soviets ensued a bomb and negotiate during 1986, and a major offensive that year included 10,000 Soviet troops and 8,000 Afghan troops.{{cite book | author = Hilali, A. Z. | title = US–Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan | publisher = Ashgate Publishing | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-7546-4220-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=nhqRa0glD9oC&pg=PA86 86] }}

The Pakistani people and establishment continued to support the Afghan mujahideen even if it was in contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning, most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. The Central Intelligence Agency stated in a report that the new government would be ambivalent, or even hostile towards the United States.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the Battle of Jalalabad broke out between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen, in cooperation with Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). The offensive against the city began when the mujahideen bribed several government military officers, from there, they tried to take the airport, but were repulsed with heavy casualties. The willingness of the common Afghan government soldier to fight increased when the mujahideen began to execute people during the battle. Hamid Gul, leader of the ISI, hoped that the battle would topple Najibullah's government and create a mujahideen government seated in Jalalabad.{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/najibullah-grave-death-afghanistan-hamdullah-mohib-6433076/|title=Explained: Why a top Afghan official visited the grave of ex-President Najibullah|date=30 May 2020}} During the battle, Najibullah called for Soviet assistance. Gorbachev called an emergency session of the Politburo to discuss his proposal, but Najibullah's request was rejected. Other attacks against the city failed, and by April the government forces were on the offensive. During the battle over four hundred Scud missiles were shot, which were fired by a Soviet crew, which had stayed behind, in joint cooperation with the Afghan 99th Missile Brigade.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA296 296–297] }} When the battle ended in July, the mujahideen had lost an estimated 3,000 troops. One mujahideen commander lamented "the battle of Jalalabad lost us credit won in ten years of fighting."{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA297 297] }} After the mujahideen's defeat in Jalalabad, Gul blamed the administration of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for the defeat. Bhutto eventually sacked Gul.

File:Watan Party Remastered.png Members and members of Daoud Khan's National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan]]

Hardline Khalqist Shahnawaz Tanai attempted to overthrow Najibullah in a failed coup attempt in March 1990, the coup was stopped however by the Khalqist General Aslam Watanjar. Although Tanai and his forces failed and fled to Pakistan, the coup attempt still managed to show weaknesses in Najibullah's government.

From 1989 to 1990, the Najibullah government was partially successful in building up the Afghan defence forces. The Ministry of State Security had established a local militia force which stood at an estimated 100,000 men. The 17th Division in Herat, which had begun the 1979 Herat uprising against PDPA-rule, stood at 3,400 regular troops and 14,000 tribal men. In 1988, the total number of security forces available to the government stood at 300,000.{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA298 298] }} This trend did not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on the defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven-year Siege of Khost had ended in a mujahideen victory and the morale of the Afghan military finally collapsed. In the Soviet Union, Kryuchkov and Shevardnadze had both supported continuing aid to the Najibullah government, but Kryuchkov had been arrested following the failed 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt and Shevardnadze had resigned from his posts in the Soviet government in December 1990 – there were no longer any pro-Najibullah people in the Soviet leadership and the Soviet Union was in the middle of an economic and political crisis, which would lead directly to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991. At the same time, Boris Yeltsin became Russia's new leader, and he had no wish to continue to aid Najibullah's government, which he considered a relic of the past. In the autumn of 1991, Najibullah wrote to Shevardnadze "I didn't want to be president, you talked me into it, insisted on it, and promised support. Now you are throwing me and the Republic of Afghanistan to its fate."{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA299 299] }}

By January 1992, Najibullah had become internationally isolated, with the loss of his biggest supporter he decided to consolidate his power over the non Pashtuns who were considered less loyal to the regime.{{Cite book |last=Nadiri |first=Khalid |title=Brokers, Bureaucrats, and the Quality of Government: Understanding Development and Decay in Afghanistan and Beyond |publisher=Johns Hopkins University |year=2017 |pages=155–156}} This came after complaints from his fellow Pashtun Kochis of harassment from an ethnic Tajik general, Abdul Momin. Momin had developed secret ties with the Tajik warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud and was passing on secret information to Massoud which led to Najibullah ordering the sacking of Momin which was carried out by Juma Achak, an Achakzai Pashtun who served as Commander of the Northern Zone and was known to hold Pashtun chauvinist views.

General Momin was replaced with General Rasul, an ethnic Pashtun Khalqist known for his brutal reputation of commander of Pul-e Charkhi Prison. This move offended many of the non Pashtun militias in the North and led to the defection of most Uzbek, Tajiks, Turkmen, Hazara and Ismaili Shias militias including ethnic Uzbek, General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his 40,000 Uzbek soldiers. The defectors would form an anti-Pashtun coalition known as the Movement of the North (Harakat-e Shamal) and ally with the Tajik Jamiat-e Islami and Hazara Hezbe Wahdat in taking on the mostly Pashtun, Afghan Military.

Many Tajik Parchamites loyal to Babrak Karmal would defect en masse during the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif including General Mohammad Nabi Azimi with the Pashtun Khalqist and Pro-Najibullah army and paramilitaries defending the city. On 18 March 1992 Najibullah offered to resign, leading to many Pashtun Khalqist and Najibullah loyalists to ally with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin in order to prevent non Pashtuns from seizing Kabul.{{Cite book |last1=Halim Tanwir |first1=Dr. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyQDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA471 |title=AFGHANISTAN: History, Diplomacy and Journalism Volume 1 |date=February 2013 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=9781479760909}} The Peshawar Accord would be signed on 26 April 1992 between various Mujahadeen factions, leading to the creation of the new Islamic State of Afghanistan. However, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin and the Khalq would continue to fight this new government in the Third Afghan Civil War.

During the tumultuous period leading to the fall of Dr. Najibullah's government in Afghanistan, the Ismaili community, under the leadership of Sayed Mansur Naderi and his son Sayed Jafar Naderi, played a significant role in orchestrating the political and military maneuvers that culminated in Najibullah's ousting. The strategic mutiny led by these Ismaili leaders, in collaboration with other non-Pashtun factions, effectively disrupted Najibullah's main supply route from the former Soviet Union, directly contributing to the collapse of his regime. This pivotal action not only marked a turning point in Afghanistan's history but also highlighted the critical influence of the Ismaili community in shaping the nation's political landscape during a period of profound change and instability.{{Cite web | publisher=Parliament of Australia| title=Afghanistan: the politics of disintegration | url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2FWMH10%22;src1=sm1}}

Not long before Kabul's fall, Najibullah appealed to the UN for protection after his guards fled, which was rejected.{{Cite news|title=Ex president hanged by Taliban after fall of Kabul|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ex-president-hanged-by-taliban-after-fall-of-kabul-1.90501|date=28 September 1996|access-date=2 October 2021|work=Irish Times}} His attempt to flee to the airport was thwarted by troops of Abdul Rashid Dostum – once loyal to him, but now allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud – who controlled the airport. At the UN compound in Kabul, while waiting for the UN to negotiate his safe passage to India, he occupied himself by translating Peter Hopkirk's book The Great Game into his mother tongue Pashto.{{cite web |last=Latifi |first=Ali M. |title=Executed Afghan president stages 'comeback' |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/06/2012618134838393817.html |date=22 June 2012 |publisher=aljazeera.com |access-date=23 August 2012}} India was placed in a difficult position by deciding to allow Najibullah political asylum and safely escorting him out of the country. Supporters claimed he had always been close to India and should not be denied asylum, but others said doing so would risk antagonizing India's relationship with the new mujahideen government formed under the Peshawar Accord.{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/all-attempts-to-take-najibullah-safely-out-of-afghanistan-fail/1/306813.html|title=All attempts to take Najibullah safely out of Afghanistan fail|website=Indiatoday.intoday.in|date=15 June 2013 |access-date=17 December 2017}}

India also refused to let him take refuge at the Indian embassy in Afghanistan as it risked creating "subcontinental rivalries" and reprisals against Kabul's Indian community, arguing that Najibullah would be far safer at the UN compound. All attempts failed and he eventually sought refuge in the local UN headquarters,{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA301 301] }} where he would stay until 1996. In 1994, India sent senior diplomat M. K. Bhadrakumar to Kabul to hold talks with Ahmad Shah Massoud, the defence minister, to consolidate relations with the Afghan authorities, reopen the embassy, and allow Najibullah to fly to India, but Massoud refused.{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/1114676/najibullahs-failed-escape-how-india-and-the-un-mucked-up-completely-in-afghanistan/|title=Murder of a president: How India and the UN mucked up completely in Afghanistan|website=Gz.com|date=30 October 2017 |access-date=17 December 2017}} Bhadrakumar wrote in 2016 that he believed Massoud did not want Najibullah to leave as Massoud could strategically make use of him, and that Massoud "probably harboured hopes of a co-habitation with Najib somewhere in the womb of time because that extraordinary Afghan politician was a strategic asset to have by his side".{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/special/exclusive-how-india-reached-out-to-the-exclusive-how-india-reached-out-to-the-afghan-mujahideen/20160914.htm|title=Exclusive! How India reached out to the Afghan Mujahideen|website=Rediff.com|access-date=17 December 2017}} At the time, Massoud was commanding the government's forces fighting the militias of Dostum and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Battle of Kabul. A few months before his death, he quoted, "Afghans keep making the same mistake," reflecting upon his translation to a visitor.{{cite book|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=Page 333 – Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the Cia, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001|year=2004|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781594200076|pages=695|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToYxFL5wmBIC&pg=PA333}}

In September 1996, when the Taliban were about to enter Kabul,{{cite book | author = Braithwaite, Rodric | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA302 302–303] }} Massoud claimed to have offered Najibullah an opportunity to flee the capital. Najibullah refused. The reasons for his refusal might have been that unlike other members of the former regime, Najibullah had not been granted amnesty by the Islamic State of Afghanistan. The UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had pleaded with the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani to allow Najibullah to leave the country as he felt that Najibullah was not safe as his presence was well known, Rabbani however refused to grant Najibullah amnesty. Massoud (a member of Rabbani's Jamiat-e Islami Party) himself claimed that Najibullah feared that "if he fled with the Tajiks, he would be for ever damned in the eyes of his fellow Pashtuns."Rashid, A. (2002). Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia. Quote on p. 49. Also see footnote 15 on p. 252 Others, like General Tokhi, who was with Najibullah until the day before his torture and murder, stated that Najibullah mistrusted Massoud after his militia had repeatedly fired rockets at the UN compound and had effectively barred Najibullah from leaving Kabul. "If they wanted Najibullah to flee Kabul in safety," Tokhi said, "they could have provided him the opportunity as they did with other high-ranking officials from the communist party from 1992 to 1996."{{Cite web | title=Interview with General Tokhi. Relevant section from 09.40 min. | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MPzl7DnrTg&t=09m40s | website=youtube.com}} Dr Najibullah was the only member of the old regime (besides Assadullah Sawari) to not be granted amnesty by the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Whatever his true motivations were, when Massoud's militia went to both Najibullah and General Tokhi and asked them to flee Kabul, they rejected the offer.

Najibullah was at the UN compound when unknown soldiers came for him on the evening of 26 September 1996.{{cite news |last=White |first=Terence |date=15 October 2001 |title=Flashback: When the Taleban took Kabul |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1600136.stm |access-date=15 June 2015}} He was abducted from UN custody, and shot in the head. It is alleged that members of the Taliban after finding his corpse dragged his corpse behind a truck through the streets of Kabul.{{cite news |last=Parry |first=Robert |url= https://consortiumnews.com/2013/04/07/hollywoods-dangerous-afghan-illusion/|title=Hollywood's Dangerous Afghan Illusion |website=Consortiumnews.com |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=31 January 2018}}{{Cite web |title=DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL {{!}} UN Press |url=https://press.un.org/en/1996/19960927.nb27sep.html |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=press.un.org}} His brother, General Shahpur Ahmadzai, was given the same treatment. Najibullah and Shahpur's bodies were hanged from a traffic light pole outside the Arg presidential palace the next day in order to show the public that a new era had begun. The Taliban prevented Islamic funeral prayers for Najibullah and Shahpur in Kabul, but the bodies were later handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross who in turn sent their bodies to Gardez in Paktia Province, where both of them were buried after the Islamic funeral prayers for them by their fellow Ahmadzai tribesmen.{{cite book |author=Rashid, Ahmed |title=Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Tauris & Company |year=2002 |isbn=978-1845117887 |page=49 }} The perpetrators of the murder have been debated, some including Soviet journalists Plastun and Andrianov who knew Najibullah personally, US Special Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen, the former National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's Strategic and Scientific Research Center, and many Pashtun Nationalist including a former senator in Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak have claimed that Najibullah was assassinated by the ISI (alongside members of the Taliban working for them) allegedly over his Pashtun nationalist stance Durand Line as well as revenge for the botched Battle of Jalalabad in 1989.{{cite news |author=Пластун В.Н., Андрианов В.В. |date=1999 |title=Наджибулла. Афганистан в тисках геополитики |url=http://www.rsva.ru/biblio/prose_af/nadjib/7.shtml?part=7 |access-date=28 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717194502/http://www.rsva.ru/biblio/prose_af/nadjib/7.shtml?part=7 |archive-date=17 July 2015}}{{Cite web |title=Researchers Blame Pakistan's ISI For Death Of Ex-President Najibullah |url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/researchers-blame-pakistans-isi-death-ex-president-najibullah |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=TOLOnews |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=20 September 2023 |title=Taliban Killed Dr Najibullah on Orders of Pak Military Officer, Says Khattak |url=https://www.afintl.com/en/202209277594 |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=Afghanistan International |language=en}} In his book The Wars of Afghanistan, Tomsen wrote, “Najib's entrapment and execution carried the hallmarks of a classic intelligence operation. The Taliban, on their own, would not have taken such elaborate precautions to avoid violating the UN's diplomatic premises (where Dr Najibullah had taken sanctuary since stepping down in 1992).”{{cite web |date=15 May 2011 |title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers |url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/peter-tomsen/wars-afghanistan/ |access-date=28 July 2011 |publisher=Kirkus Reviews}}{{cite journal |last=Silverman |first=Jerry Mark |title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and The Failures of Great Powers |url=http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/wars-afghanistan-messianic-terrorism-tribal-conflicts-and-failures-great-powers |journal=New York Journal of Books |access-date=28 July 2011}}{{Cite web |date=24 September 2014 |title=Dr Mohammed Najibullah: the Afghan Prometheus |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/103139/dr-mohammed-najibullah-the-afghan-prometheus/ |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=Daily Times |language=en-US}} In 1996, Mullah Borjan, who was the commander-in-chief of the Taliban siege force on the southeast side of Kabul, claimed to have been approached by the ISI and asked to kill Najibullah.{{Cite book |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |title=The wrong enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001 - 2014 |date=2015 |publisher=Mariner Books |isbn=978-0-544-04669-6 |edition=1. Mariner Books |location=Bosten, Mass.}} He made it clear that he would never allow Taliban forces to kill former President Najibullah. On 20 September, Mullah Borjan was shot and killed by his bodyguards for unknown reasons. A week later, Najibullah was killed.{{Cite web | url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/17.pdf | website=NSA | title=Department of state - ARA/NEA Rearcs}}

News of Najibullah's murder was greeted with widespread international condemnation,"[https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/51/a51r108.htm Situation of human rights in Afghanistan]" United Nations Resolution 51/108, Article 10. 12 December 1996. Retrieved 15 June 2015 "Endorses the Special Rapporteur's condemnation of the abduction from United Nations premises of the former President of Afghanistan, Mr. Najibullah, and of his brother, and of their subsequent summary execution;" particularly from the Muslim world. The United Nations issued a statement which condemned the killing of Najibullah, and claimed that it would further destabilise Afghanistan. The Taliban responded by issuing death sentences on Dostum, Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani. India, which had been supporting Najibullah, strongly condemned his killing and began to support Massoud's United Front/Northern Alliance in an attempt to contain the rise of the Taliban.Pigott, Peter. [https://archive.org/details/canadainafghanis0000pigo/page/54 Canada in Afghanistan: The War So Far.] Toronto: Dundurn Press Ltd, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-55002-674-0}}. p. 54. – via Google Books

On the 20th anniversary of his death, in 2016, Afghanistan's Research Center blamed the ISI for his death, claiming that the plan to kill Najibullah was implemented by Pakistan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan/researchers-blame-pakistans-isi-death-ex-president-najibullah|title = Researchers Blame Pakistan's ISI for Death of Ex-President Najibullah}}

On 1 June 2020, following a visit to his grave in Gardez by the Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, Najibullah's widow Fatana Najib said that before constructing a mausoleum for him, the government should first investigate his assassination.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/pashto/afghanistan-52873294|title=فتانه نجیب: د قبر تر جوړېدو مخکې دې د نجیب د مرګ پلټنه وشي|newspaper=BBC News پښتو|language=ps|date=1 June 2020}} In 2021, during an interview with a Taliban commander on Afghan television, he denied that the Taliban were involved and blamed Najibullah’s assassination on the ISI.

After Najibullah's death, the brutal civil war between mujahideen factions, the Taliban regime, continued fighting, and enduring problems with corruption and poverty, his image among the Afghan people dramatically improved, and Najibullah came to be seen as a strong and patriotic leader. Since the 2010s, posters and pictures of him have become a common sight in many Afghan cities.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/ideology-and-electricity-soviet-experience-afghanistan/|magazine=The Nation|title=Ideology and Electricity: The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan|first=Christian|last=Parenti|date=17 April 2012|via=www.thenation.com|access-date=12 January 2018|archive-date=11 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911193006/https://www.thenation.com/article/ideology-and-electricity-soviet-experience-afghanistan/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://thepashtuntimes.com/shift-dr-najibullahs-corpse-to-kabul-paktia-residents/|title=Shift Dr. Najibullah's corpse to Kabul: Paktia residents – The Pashtun Times|date=30 August 2016}} Najibullah is a very popular figure amongst Pashtun Nationalists many of whom view his fall as the biggest blow to the Pashtun Nationalist Movement. Ever since the creation of Pakistan the various governments of Afghanistan whatever Monarchy, Republican or Communist had all backed Pashtun Nationalist parties such as ANP. The fall of Najibullah was considered by Afghan Mellat Wakman faction leader Anwar ul-Haq Ahady as "the end of Pashtun dominance in Afghan politics".{{Cite journal |last=Khan |first=Iqbal Ahmed |date=2013 |title=The Confused Pashtun |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23527943 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=48 |issue=31 |pages=25–27 |jstor=23527943 |issn=0012-9976}}{{Cite web |title=WARNING – GRAPHIC: Anti-Taliban Pashtun Nationalists And Democrats Mark Afghan Taliban's Hanging Of Former President Dr. Najibullah In 1996 – The Afghan Taliban Had Threatened To Execute President Ashraf Ghani |url=https://www.memri.org/reports/warning-%E2%80%93-graphic-anti-taliban-pashtun-nationalists-and-democrats-mark-afghan-talibans |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=MEMRI |language=en}} Many Pashtuns remember under Najibullah, Pashto became the 4th language spoken in space when Abdul Ahad Momand called Najibullah in 1988 from space as well as the fact Najibullah chose to speak Pashto at the UN General assembly rather than Dari.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 1997, the Watan Party of Afghanistan was formed and in 2003, the National United Party of Afghanistan was registered – who seek to unite former PDPA members formerly led by Mohammad Najibullah.{{Cite web|url=http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=1295&task=view&total=2837&start=1871&Itemid=2|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023212709/http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=1295&task=view&total=2837&start=1871&Itemid=2|url-status=dead |title=Afghan Biographies – Olumi, Noorulhaq Noor ul Haq Olomi Ulumi|archivedate=23 October 2014}}

Najibullah is often referred to as a communist by some; however, his rule from 1987 to 1992 was marked with a shift away from communism towards Islamic socialism and a mixed economy. In terms of policy, Najibullah can be best compared to Daoud Khan, who ruled the Republic of Afghanistan before the PDPA took power in 1978. Najibullah's government also featured many former ministers of the Daoud Khan government.

Najibullah was in support of restoration of the monarchy to some capacity, he restored Zahir Shah's citizenship and actively encouraged Zahir Shah to take part in negotiations, Najibullah's wife Fatana Najib is also related to former Afghan King Amanaullah.{{Citation |last=Maley |first=William |title=The Interregnum of Najibullah, 1989–1992 |date=2002 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-1840-6_9 |work=The Afghanistan Wars |pages=168–193 |editor-last=Maley |editor-first=William |access-date=27 December 2022 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4039-1840-6_9 |isbn=978-1-4039-1840-6|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |title=Afghan President Najibullah has no objection to King Zahir Shah participating in new govt |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19880531-afghan-president-najibullah-has-no-objection-to-king-zahir-shah-participating-in-new-govt-797315-1988-05-30 |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=India Today |date=31 May 1988 |language=en}} Najibullah was a Pashtun Nationalist being hailed as the first Afghan leader to speak Pashto at the UN General Assembly and having Afghan Cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand (also an Ethnic Pashtun) making Pashto the 4th language spoken in space under his leadership. He often questioning the legitimacy of Pakistan's existence claiming it was "born out of British colonialism".{{Citation |title=Afghanistan ex-president Dr Najeebullah speech about Pakistan. | date=7 October 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuRgdpU3b1U |access-date=20 September 2023 |language=en}} Najibullah whose father was also a Pashtun Nationalist, had strong ties to the Pashtun Nationalist community in the Pashtun majority North West Frontier province. Najibullah was present during the funeral for Pashtun Nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar who was granted military honors.

Najibullah also attempted to hand over the control of non Pashtun ethnic militias to Pashtun leaders as he had grown to distrust many northern militias such as Abdul Rashid Dostum's Uzbek militia which had committed atrocities and started to open channels with Ahmad Shah Massoud.{{Cite book |last=Müller |first=Lukas |title=Wings over the Hindu Kush: Air Forces, Aircraft and Air Warfare of Afghanistan, 1989-2001 |publisher=Helion and Company |year=2020 |isbn=978-1913118662 |pages=}} A Soviet GRU dossier on Najibullah described him as "A Pushtun nationalist, he is one of the motivating spirits of the policy of “Pushtunization” of Afghan society. Within his closest circle he speaks only in Pashto. He is inclined to select colleagues not for their professional qualities but for their personal devotion to him, predominantly relatives and fellow-villagers".{{Cite journal |title=Woodrow Wilson Center Digital Archive. Nuclear Proliferation International History Project |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim010030016 |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=The SHAFR Guide Online|doi=10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim010030016 |url-access=subscription }} Under Najibullah over 50% of Afghan media was in the Pashto language.{{Cite journal |last=Ahady |first=Anwar-ul-Haq |date=1995 |title=The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2645419 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=621–634 |doi=10.2307/2645419 |jstor=2645419 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }}

Najibullah was married on 1 September 1974 to Fatana Najib, principal of the Peace School whom he met when she was an eighth-grade student and he was her science tutor.{{Cite web|last=Fisher|first=Earleen|date=13 July 1991|title=Najibullah Retains Control With Power and Pragmatism|url=https://apnews.com/article/560eca18e203900b824d674183c642fa|access-date=8 August 2021|website=AP News}} The couple had three daughters, who were forced to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban seizure and the start of the civil war. The daughters grew up with their mother in New Delhi, India, after moving there in 1992.{{cite web| url = https://apnews.com/article/1e4543883ad2ac099ca177537d32a5fd| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210705091613/https://apnews.com/article/1e4543883ad2ac099ca177537d32a5fd| archive-date = 5 July 2021| title = Najibullah's Family in India, Government Says| website = Associated Press}}

Najibullah had at least three brothers: General Shahpur Ahmadzai who was murdered along with Najibullah in 1996,{{Cite web |date=15 August 2021 |title=Taliban killed Afghan president after seizing power first time in 1996 |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/world/first-time-taliban-seized-afghan-power-they-hung-president-288553 |access-date=29 January 2025 |website=The Business Standard |language=en}} Sediqullah Rahi, a onetime Afghan National Bank employee{{Cite web | url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/2054-1988-03-KS-a-EYJ.pdf | title=Defection of Najibullah's brother}} who had also lived in Hamburg (then West Germany) and in 1988 defected to the Taliban and fled to Pakistan aged 37 (born 1950 or 1951),{{Cite news |last1=Pear |first1=Robert |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=20 August 1988 |title=Afghan President's Brother Says Kabul Rulers Will Fall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/20/world/afghan-president-s-brother-says-kabul-rulers-will-fall.html |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} and another, unnamed brother mentioned by Rahi as "working for the KGB" in 1988. This possibly refers to Roshan Ahmadzai, the third brother of Najibullah, who was a junior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.{{Cite news |last1=Burns |first1=John F. |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=21 April 1989 |title=The Kabul Capitalist, if Not Capitalism, Thrives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/21/world/the-kabul-capitalist-if-not-capitalism-thrives.html |access-date=5 February 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Rahi later moved to the United States and denounced the Taliban as a "religious fanatic group" not wanted by the people of Afghanistan and stated that they "represent the interests of Pakistan".{{cite web | url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pakistan-wants-taliban-to-rule-afghanistan-says-brother-of-former-afghan-president-120030700998_1.html | title=Pakistan wants Taliban to rule Afghanistan, says brother of former Afghan President }} Their father died at a hospital in Kabul in 1983.{{Cite journal |date=16 August 1988 |title=Brother accuses Najibullah over father's killing; President Najibullah of Afghanistan |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA117373926&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon~f3d328d1&aty=open-web-entry |journal=The Times (London, England) |language=English}}

• Watan Party of Afghanistan
• Sulaiman Layeq

{{noteslist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.afghanland.com/history/najib.html Biography of President Najibullah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023035726/http://www.afghanland.com/history/najib.html |date=23 October 2005 }}

{{s-start}}

{{s-ppo}}

{{s-bef|before = Babrak Karmal}}

{{s-ttl|title = General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party|years =1986–1992}}

{{s-aft|after = Office abolished}}

{{s-off}}

{{s-bef|before = Haji Mohammad Chamkani}}

{{s-ttl|title = Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council|years = 1987 }}

{{s-aft|after = Himself|as=President}}

{{s-bef|before = Himself|as=Chairman of the Presidium
of the Revolutionary Council}}

{{s-ttl|title = President of Afghanistan|years = 1987–1992|order=2nd|rows=2}}

{{s-aft|after = Burhanuddin Rabbani|rows=2}}

|-

{{s-vac|last = Mohammed Daoud Khan {{nobold|(1978)}}}}

{{s-gov}}

{{s-bef|before = Asadullah Amin}}

{{s-ttl|title = Director of the State Intelligence Agency|years = 1980–1985}}

{{s-aft|after = Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi}}

{{S-end}}

{{Heads of state of Afghanistan}}

{{Soviet-Afghan War}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Najibullah, Mohammad}}

Category:1947 births

Category:1996 deaths

Category:20th-century heads of state of Afghanistan

Category:Presidents of Afghanistan

Category:People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan politicians

Category:Afghan murder victims

Category:Castrated people

Category:Executed Afghan people

Category:Executed presidents

Category:People killed by the Taliban

Category:Ambassadors of Afghanistan to Iran

Category:Afghan physicians

Category:Afghan torture victims

Category:Pashtun politicians

Category:People from Kabul

Category:Habibia High School alumni

Category:Political office-holders of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

Category:1980s in Afghanistan

Category:1990s in Afghanistan

Category:20th-century executions by Afghanistan

Category:Muslim socialists

Category:20th-century physicians

Category:Afghan exiles

Category:Executed communists

Category:Assassinated presidents in Asia

Category:Pashtun nationalists

Category:Politicians assassinated in 1996