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Mohammad Aslam Watanjar (1946-24 November 2000) was Minister of Internal Affairs from 1988 to 1990 and Defense of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1990 to 1992. He was the main military leaders of the 1978 Saur Revolution

Biography[]

Mohammad Aslam Watanjar was born to the Ghilzlai Pashtun tribe in Paktia Province. Trained in the Soviet Union, he became a general of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. Watanjar as a tank crewman took part in the 1973 Coup that brought Daoud Khan to power. In 1978, Watanjar led an armored convoy in a coup d'etat on the orders of Hafizullah Amin killing President Mohammed Daoud Khan and establishing the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He served as Minister of Defense and Minister of Communications from April 1978 to July 1978, Minister of Internal Affairs from 1978 to 1979. Watanjar was apart of the Khalqist gang of four opposed to Hafizullah Amin and supported Nur Muhammad Taraki during the Amin-Taraki power struggle. He allegedly inspected Hafizullah Amin's body following Storm-333. He became Minister of Communications again from 1980 to 1988 then again serving as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1988 to 1990 before being promoted to Minister of Defense, again after commanding the Afghan Army against a coup attempt in 1990. After the fall of Kabul in 1992, he briefly joined forces with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar before leaving to Odessa in Ukraine, where he died of cancer in 2000.

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