1990 Afghan coup attempt

Attempted overthrow of President Mohammad Najibullah of Afghanistan 1990 Afghan coup d'état attempt the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992) 300px 6 March 1990 Kabul, Afghanistan Afghan government victory Shahnawaz Tanai flees to Pakistan Coup attempt thwarted Belligerents 20px Army Flag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Khalqist faction Flag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg Hezb-e Islami GulbuddinSupported by: Pakistan ISI Afghanistan 1987 Afghan government Flag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Shahnawaz TanaiFlag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg Gulbuddin HekmatyarFlag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Assadullah SarwariFlag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Sayed Mohammad GulabzoyFlag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Bacha Gul WafadarFlag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Mohammad Hasan SharqFlag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Nazar Mohammad Flag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg Mohammad Dawran (alleged)Flag of al-Qaeda.svg Osama bin Laden Afghanistan 1987 Mohammad NajibullahAfghanistan 1987 General Jamil Khan Afghanistan 1987 Mohammad Aslam WatanjarAfghanistan 1987 Khushal PerozAfghanistan 1987 Baba JanAfghanistan 1987 Jalal Razmenda 20px Afghan Armed ForcesThe unit data in both columns is drawn from Azimi Nabi The Army and Politics: Afghanistan: 1963–1993 AuthorHouse (English edition) 2019 https://books.google.com/books?id=M5aSDwAAQBAJ 978-1-7283-8701-7 Self published English version of originally "Persian" [Dari??] work; see translator's note. 20px Afghan Army 717th Civil Disciplinary Regiment Harbi Military University students 10th Infantry Division 20px Afghan Commando Forces Afghan National Guard 20px 21st Guards Regiment 22nd Guards Regiment 20px Sarandoy 8th Gendarme Brigade 20px WAD 1st Directorate 5th Directorate Revolution Defence Units Coup plotters 20px Afghan Army 4th Tank Brigade 15th Tank Brigade 52nd Signal Regiment 61st Strike Regiment 40th Infantry Division 8th Infantry Division 61st Heavy Artillery Regiment 20px Afghan Commando Forces 37th Commando Brigade 20px Afghan Air Force 99th Missile Brigade 77th Air Defence Regiment 20px Sarandoy 22nd Motorway Sentry Brigade 5th Gendarme Division Afghan Border Force Border Force Training Centre Military faction of Hezb-i Islami Gulbuddin The 1990 Afghan coup d'etat attempt occurred on March 6, 1990, when General Shahnawaz Tanai, a hardline communist and Khalqist who served as Minister of Defence, attempted to overthrow President Mohammad Najibullah of the Republic of Afghanistan. The coup attempt failed and Tanai was forced to flee to Pakistan.https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/in-afghanistan-dinner-and-then-a-coup In Afghanistan, Dinner and Then a Coup Steve Coll The New Yorker 28 November 2012 www.newyorker.com Background Tanai, who has been described alternatively as a "radical nationalist" and a "hard-line communist" of the radical Khalq faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan,Coll Steve Ghost wars : the secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001 2004 Penguin Press 1-59420-007-6 New York 52814066 was fiercely anti-mujahideen yet launched an unlikely alliance with the Islamist (but also nationalist) rebel Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin party. Tanai was against Najibullah's peace plans and supported a military solution to the conflict. Hekmatyar ordered his fighters to intensify their attacks against the Kabul regime in support of Tanai. The success of the coup was taken for granted. A previous coup attempt by Khalqists was foiled in December 1989, to which Tanai has been linked.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-07-mn-1897-story.html Afghanistan Army Units Attempt Coup : Asia: President Najibullah declares rebellion was crushed by loyal forces. Troops hunt for hard-line defense minister believed to have sparked the battle. MARK FINEMAN 7 March 1990 LA Times The coup occurred a year following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/03/13/Afghan-guerrillas-profit-from-failed-coup/4048637304400/ Afghan guerrillas profit from failed coup Tanai was apparently also supported by those important Khalqists who remained in the Politburo, Assadullah Sarwari and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy, respectively their country's envoys to Aden and Moscow. They were said to have been intimately connected with the coup and with Tanai. Sarwari, an old comrade of Tanai, was the chief of the Afghan intelligence (KHAD) under Nur Muhammad Taraki. He was a Khalqist hardliner known as the assassin of a rival Parcham faction member. Gulabzoy was minister of interior before being exiled on a diplomatic assignment to Moscow.The Afghanistan Wars: Second Edition by William Maley Tanai stated that he didn't disagree with President Najibullah's views, but rather with his policy on the military. Najibullah was transferring all the privileges of the Army to the tribal militias and in particular to his special guard. I was against this because the Afghan Army was losing efficiency. The Pakistani government supported the Coup in the moment hoping to weaken the Najibullah government although Tanai himself was no friend of Pakistan as he had been insistent to Najibullah to point SCUD missiles at Islamabad in retlation for supporting the rebels.Archives https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-07-mn-1897-story.html Los Angeles Times 7 March 1990 Fleiss Alex 2022-04-05 What happened in the battle of Jalalabad? https://www.rebellionresearch.com/what-happened-in-the-battle-of-jalalabad 2023-06-28 Rebellion Research en-US Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's plea to the other six party leaders to aid Tanai and Hekmatyar was rebuked as a disgrace to the jihad. Most of the factions viewed General Tanai as an opportunistic war criminal and hardline communist who was responsible for carpet-bombings in portions of the major western city of Herat in March 1979. The coup attempt was partially financed by Osama bin Laden, who bribed Afghan Armed Forces officers into deserting. Coup attempt Tanai ordered air strikes against government buildings. Jets flown by Afghan Air Force pilots loyal to Tanai flew in Kabul to bomb the targets, but most were repelled by the Army. Air Force Commander Abdul Qadir Aqa was an accomplice. Three rockets landed near the Presidential Palace.https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/08/world/afghan-leader-says-plotters-have-fled.html Afghan Leader Says Plotters Have Fled The New York Times March 8, 1990 However the expected uprising by the Afghan Army didn't take place: Tanai had no direct control of troops inside Kabul. Tanai had sent the 15th Tank Brigade into the city to attack the Palace. Interior Minister Mohammad Aslam Watanjar played a major role in halting the coup plotters. He ordered a battalion to intercept the tanks and told his forces to capture Tanai "dead or alive". There was street fighting near the palace as well,https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/10/world/kabul-journal-in-power-still-afghan-can-thank-his-4-star-aide.html Kabul Journal; In Power Still, Afghan Can Thank His 4-Star Aide John F. Burns The New York Times May 10, 1990 with the WAD-led Gard-e-Khas paramilitary force additionally playing an important role involved in suppressing the coup.Afghanistan - Security Services in Communist Afghanistan (1978-1992). AGSA, KAM, KhAD and WAD https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/nmfa/2001/en/77882 2024-03-29 Refworld en Commandos of the defunct (since 1988) Afghan Air Assault Brigades were also recorded attempting to defuse the situation after the coup attempt failed.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ef-Qe6jWWo G12039017 en 2024-03-29 www.youtube.com President Najibullah appeared on television at 10 p.m. the same night to prove that he was physically there and in effective control of the state apparatus. The President gathered the support of important Parchamite militias, including the elite Special Guard to defuse the plot. Najibullah later claimed that the Soviet Union offered help to defeat the coup, to which he thanked the offer and replied: "There's no need now. But if we face a foreign attack that will be another matter", referring to Pakistan.https://www.csmonitor.com/1990/0315/onajib.html Afghan Leader Najib Rebounds Solidly After Coup Attempt 15 March 1990 Christian Science Monitor Aftermath In the afternoon of March 7, Tanai escaped to Bagram Air Base and fled by helicopter to Peshawar, Pakistan where he was greeted and publicly accepted as an ally by Hekmatyar.https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/21/world/failed-kabul-coup-changes-opinions.html FAILED KABUL COUP CHANGES OPINIONS 21 March 1990 The New York Times Eventually, he settled there in Pakistan. Tanai would later state the reason he fled to Pakistan was his only options were Iran, the Soviet Union or Pakistan, knowing the Soviets would probably turn him over and Iran was hostile to the Khalqists he decided Pakistan as Hekmatyar promised him protection. He lived in exile until later returning to Afghanistan. A general and two commanders loyal to Tanai were killed during the coup attempt. Najibullah grew even more suspicious of Khalqists, and thus another purge occurred, further deepening the rift between the two factions.http://uhami.com/8992civilwar_afghanistan30259.htm Civil war in Afghanistan (1989?1992) 2018-01-31 2018-02-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20180201075814/http://uhami.com/8992civilwar_afghanistan30259.htm dead In all, 127 Khalqist military officers were arrested for the attempted coup, including Sarwari and Gulabzoy. The commanders of the 37th Commando Brigade and the newly-established 61st Strike Regiment were also arrested, as the entire regiment took part in the coup in support of Tanai.Ken Conboy https://archive.org/details/elite-forces-of-india-and-pakistan/page/53/mode/1up?view=theater Elite Forces of India and Pakistan Paul Hannon 1992 54 Twenty-seven officers escaped and later showed up at a press conference with Hekmatyar in Peshawar. Former Minister of Tribal Affairs, Bacha Gul Wafadar and Minister of Civil Aviation Mohammad Hasan Sharq were among the conspirators. General Watanjar was awarded a four-star rank and became the new Minister of Defence following his efforts against the coup plotters. References Category:1990s coups d'état Category:1990 in Afghanistan Category:Coups d'état in Afghanistan Category:1990 in military history Category:1990 conflicts Category:Attempted coups d'état in Asia Category:Afghanistan–Pakistan relations Category:Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict