Rupert Colley - The Afghan Wars - History in an Hour

Amin, who had already survived a number of assassination attempts, was summoned in September 1979 by Taraki to a meeting at the People’s Palace. Amin, aware of Taraki’s intentions, came prepared. A shoot-out ensued, and although members of his entourage were killed, Amin escaped unhurt and returned later to have Taraki placed under arrest.

Taraki was taken to a cell and at some point tied down and suffocated with a pillow. Amin, as the new president, announced that Taraki had died of a ‘serious illness’. Brezhnev, who had so recently embraced Taraki, was shocked by the murder and wept on hearing the news.

Amin was universally unpopular – he was hated by the Afghan Islamists, feared by his own party, distrusted by the US and suspected by Moscow of being in the pocket of the CIA. The US ambassador in Kabul had been murdered in a shoot-out while Taraki was still in power but Washington suspected the killing was the work of Amin. Amin panicked, knowing his position and his life were vulnerable. His response was to use his secret police to purge the population of his enemies and instil widespread fear, while his overtures to Moscow and Washington were ignored. Moscow even went so far as to plant an agent posing as a chef into the palace, with the aim of poisoning Amin, but it was his son-in-law who swallowed the poison and almost died.

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