biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1929–96)
|
| biography:
| Afghan prime minister (1979–81) and president (1979–86). He studied at Kabul University, and was imprisoned for anti-government activity during the early 1950s. He formed the Khalq (‘masses’) Party (1965) and the breakaway Parcham (‘banner’) Party (1967), the two groups merging to form the banned People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), with Karmal as deputy leader (1977). After briefly holding office as president and prime minister (1978), he was forced into exile in E Europe until after the Soviet military invasion (1979), returning as president. Karmal's rule was fiercely opposed by the Mujahideen guerrillas, and he was replaced as president and PDPA leader by Najibullah Ahmadzai. |
|
|
