In the late 70s, Afghanistan was in a severe fever. The country entered a period of coups, successful and unsuccessful uprisings, political upheavals. In 1973, Muhammad Daoud brought down the old Afghan monarchy. Daud tried to maneuver between the interests of the USSR and the states of the Middle East, during his reign there was a period of difficult relations with the Soviet Union. Since the days of Khrushchev, the USSR maintained rather warm relations with this country, Soviet technical and military specialists worked in Afghanistan, and provided all kinds of support to the country. However, the USSR was inevitably drawn into the internal intricacies of local politics.
Afghan Prime Minister Muhammad Daoud (center) with his wife (right). Photo: © RIA Novosti / Yuri Abramochkin
Daoud sat on bayonets and fought simultaneously with Islamic fundamentalists and left-wing radicals from the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Moscow did not put all its eggs in one basket and, in addition to official contacts, secretly collaborated with the PDPA. Against the background of general instability in the country, the PDPA decided to take power in the same way as Daud - through a coup. In April 1978, the "People's Democrats" staged a coup. Daoud died in a short but bloody clash, and the left took over the country. It was then that the future dictator Hafizullah Amin came to the fore. In the new government, he received the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
First victims
The USSR officially supported the revolution, but in reality Moscow was not so unambiguous about what was happening. First, the development of events caught Soviet diplomats and statesmen by surprise. Even Brezhnev learned about the incident from the press. Second, and much worse, the PDPA was internally fragmented into two warring factions, and in addition, PDPA members were neophytes with the fervor of Marx. Reforms, even reasonable in design, were carried out roughly, uncompromisingly, without taking into account local traditions. In the spring of 1979, an anti-government uprising took place in Herat, and at least two Soviet citizens were killed.
The first Soviet officer to die in Afghanistan in the 70s was Nikolai Bizyukov, a military adviser. He was torn to pieces by the crowd. There could have been more casualties, but local officer Shahnavaz Tanay and Soviet military man Stanislav Katichev sent a detachment of government troops to protect Soviet citizens. Although in the Herat rebellion they died for the first time Soviet citizens, this was only the first of a series of performances. Afghanistan flared up Civil War between the opposition and the government. After that, they discussed the involvement of Soviet troops in ensuring security in Afghanistan. Moreover, Afghan leader Taraki suggested using Soviet troops with Afghan signs on technology. The Afghan government went into panic. Then the Politburo refused to send troops, the Afghans received only weapons. However, already in the spring, the formation of the famous military unit of the Afghan war - the Muslim battalion of the GRU - began.
Soviet troops in the mountains of Afghanistan. Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Vyatkin
Musbat was formed from the natives of the Asian republics of the USSR. There are many Tajiks and Uzbeks living in Afghanistan, so the soldiers of this battalion would not be conspicuous during operations "beyond the river". At the same time, a group of special forces of the KGB "Zenith" arrived in Afghanistan to carry out particularly delicate tasks to ensure security. Both units were to play a huge role in the events of 1979. A paratrooper battalion has also arrived in Afghanistan to guard the key Bagram airport. The Soviet Union gradually moved towards direct interference in local affairs. However, the activities of the military have not yet been advertised.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Afghan government has escalated to the limit. Internal squabbles led to a quarrel between two key PDPA figures: Nur Mohammad Taraki, the head of state, and Amin, who gradually came to the fore. On September 14, 1979, the bodyguards of Taraki and Amin started a firefight. Attempts by the Soviet embassy to reconcile these figures failed. Amin accused Taraki - and at the same time the Soviet ambassador - of an attempt on his person. Then, on the orders of Amin, Taraki was arrested and soon killed, and Amin himself proclaimed himself the leader of the PDPA and the head of Afghanistan. Several of Taraki's associates were evacuated by KGB officers.
From left to right: Nur Muhammad Taraki and Amin Hafizullah. Photo: © Wikipedia.org Creative Commons
After that, events developed rapidly. Amin proved to be an unreliable and uncontrollable partner. In addition, he immediately got in touch with Washington and began some negotiations with the United States. Soviet special services were sure that the speech about Amin's work for the CIA, in the CIA itself, of course, did not confirm or deny anything, and for obvious reasons it was no longer possible to ask Amin. Be that as it may, in the USSR, the threat of Afghanistan's transition to the enemy's camp was taken more than seriously. Moreover, the new foreign minister directly accused the Soviet special services of attempting to assassinate Amin.
Contacts between the USSR and Afghanistan had not yet been severed, but such grave and absurd public accusations infuriated Moscow incredibly. Moreover, Taraki was appreciated, he had a warm relationship with Brezhnev personally, and such a turn made Amin an enemy of the USSR. Amin simply yelled at the Soviet diplomats who had come to protest. In addition, units of the opposition, tacitly supported by the United States, rapidly expanded their zone of influence. Therefore, Moscow decided that it was necessary to hurry. This is how the preparation of one of the most famous special operations began. Soviet Union.
Amin's palace
The final decision to send troops to Afghanistan was made on December 12, 1979. After that, Amin was doomed, but, oddly enough, he himself did not know about it. Probably, Amin also assumed the possibility of obtaining additional preferences from the USSR and retaining power. Even before that, army and KGB officers went to Afghanistan to develop the operation. The destruction of Amin was only part of a larger plan - Soviet troops were to take control of the entire Kabul.
Soviet troops on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan
The Muslim battalion of the GRU flew into the city. He was to act in conjunction with the KGB detachment "Zenith" (later he would become widely known as "Vympel"). An armada of the combined arms army was deployed on Soviet territory at that time. Entry into the territory of Afghanistan was scheduled for December 25. By the time the main forces arrived in Afghanistan, Amin should have already been neutralized.
Meanwhile, Amin seemed to feel that the clouds were gathering. The dictator moved the residence from a building in the center of Kabul to the outskirts, to the Taj Bek Palace. This capital building, if necessary, was not easy to destroy even with artillery fire. In total, more than two thousand people ensured Amin's safety. The roads leading to the building, except for one, were mined, guns, machine guns and even several dug-in tanks were included in the defensive perimeter.
The nerves of all participants in the events were inflamed to the limit. Airborne troops with paratroopers have already landed in Kabul. In addition, another KGB unit, assigned to the role of Amin's gravediggers, appeared on the scene: the "Thunder" squad. The officers of the Alpha unit were hiding under this name. In general, it was planned to storm the palace with the forces of "Thunder", "Zenith" (a total of 54 people), a Muslim battalion and a company of the Airborne Forces.
The attackers were armed with Shilka installations - quadruple self-propelled automatic cannons. Actually, the main task - the direct seizure of the palace - was carried out by special groups of the KGB headed by Colonel Grigory Boyarinov. Shortly before the assault, the palace was visited by Yuri Drozdov, a high-ranking KGB intelligence officer. Drozdov sketched floor plans. At this time, the KGB officers who were quartered in the building, under a plausible pretext, left the palace. Meanwhile, the anti-aircraft gunners wasted no time: two commanders conducted a reconnaissance mission.
From left to right: Major General of the USSR Yuri Drozdov and Colonel of the KGB, Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Boyarinov. Photo: © Wikipedia.org Creative Commons
Interestingly, the KGB hoped to eliminate Amin by some more in a simple way... However, the attempt to poison the ruler suffered a fiasco: Soviet doctors, who did not know anything about the intelligence plans, managed to pump Amin and everyone who had tasted the poison. It remained to act quickly and tough.
On the evening of the 27th, the Soviet military moved towards the cherished goal. The Soviet military were dressed in Afghan uniforms without insignia. The first victims were sentries who were shot down by snipers. The Zenith subgroup blew up the communications center. Then Shilki opened fire. However, fire on thick walls was of little use. Much more effective was the fire of automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 and two more "shilok". The grenade launchers and anti-aircraft gunners did not try to destroy the palace, but with barracks they cut off the barracks from heavy weapons that could be used by the guards. On the way, one of the assault teams came across the Afghans from the guard battalion under construction. The officer in command of the battalion was tied down and the disorganized soldiers were dispersed.
During this time, a specially assigned small group of soldiers captured the tanks. The crews were never able to get to the cars. However, the guards quickly recovered and now fought back desperately. The armored personnel carriers of the assault groups came under fire from heavy machine guns. Two vehicles were seriously damaged, one armored personnel carrier overturned into a ditch. Because of this, the already small strike group under the walls of the palace was further reduced. However, the shilki continued to fire, and their support was unexpectedly effective. One of the installations was hit by a machine gun, which prevented them from breaking into the building, so the soldiers made their way to the first floor and began a sweep. By this time, many were already wounded, including Colonel Boyarinov, who commanded the assault.
Due to the darkness and the stone crumbling, the white bandages, which were supposed to help the identification, were no longer useful. The only system "friend or foe" was a furious checkmate. At this time, another group made their way into the palace along the serpentine. Due to poor coordination, their communications did not recognize their own, and the "shilka" of fire support, together with the Afghans, burned down a friendly BMP. However, both KGB spetsnaz squads eventually rushed into the building.
Special forces of the Muslim battalion of the GRU and paratroopers blocked and seized the guard barracks. Agees and "shilki" drove the soldiers inside, did not allow them to leave, and the assault groups took the stunned Afghans prisoner. The resistance turned out to be weak: the enemy was completely stunned. The number of prisoners exceeded the number of soldiers in the assault groups. A tank column that appeared on the road was shot with anti-tank missiles and the crews were captured. The situation with the anti-aircraft battalion was more dangerous. Some artillerymen broke through to the guns, and the special forces took the battery literally from the wheels, bursting into it in armored vehicles.
It is not known exactly how Amin himself died. The body was found at the bar. According to one of the versions, he ran out to meet the special forces in civilian clothes, but with a pistol in his hands - and was immediately shot. According to another, he just sat on the floor, waiting for his fate, and was hit by a grenade splinter. It is interesting that the dignitaries of Taraki also came to the armored personnel carrier of the assault group, who now took heroic poses over the body of the dictator.
Some of Amin's relatives also died in the battle, however, contrary to popular legend, the special forces spared everyone who could be spared. In total, up to 1,700 people were captured that evening. However, civilian casualties could not be avoided. Among others, Amin's 11-year-old son was killed. “When there is a battle, you are greeted with automatic and machine-gun fire, everything around is burning and exploding, it’s impossible to see where the children are,” noted Rustam Tursunkulov, the commander of one of Musbat's assault groups. The murdered dictator was wrapped in a carpet and buried without a grave.
On the Soviet side, during the storming of the palace and fighting with guards, five in the Muslim battalion, five in the KGB special forces, were killed. Colonel Boyarinov was among those killed. Also, by tragic accident, the military doctor who treated Amin died. The exact number of casualties of the palace guards is unknown, but probably more than two hundred people were killed. The whole operation lasted 43 minutes, although one of the guards fought back for some time and went into the mountains.
Key objects of Kabul were seized in a similar scenario. It is interesting that the residents reacted sluggishly to these events: they had already got used to the civil strife and the shooting that accompanied it. On the other hand, the political prisoners rejoiced loudly, they not only opened the gates, but also drove buses to take them out of the prison. In the meantime, the victors almost lost their entire command at once. The fact is that army and KGB officers traveled around Kabul in Amin's captured Mercedes. The General Staff was guarded by a young paratrooper who, without understanding, gave a turn.
Fortunately, he missed, only shot through the body of the car with several bullets. The reconnaissance general Drozdov approached the lieutenant who came running to the shooting and said only: "Thank you, son, for not teaching your soldier to shoot." At this time, doctors fought over the victims of those who had been taught to shoot. Assistance was provided to both the Soviet military and the Afghans. Later, the participants in the assault noted the highest qualifications of the doctors: of those Soviet soldiers who were dragged to the doctors alive, no one died - although there were dozens of wounded in the assault groups. The Afghans were also operated mostly successfully; among others, Amin's eldest daughter and grandson were rescued.
Afghanistan woke up the next morning with a new government. The head of state was Babrak Karmal, who was forced to emigrate under Amin.
On December 27, 1979, Amin's palace near Kabul was taken by storm. As a result of a special operation codenamed "storm-333", Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was eliminated. This operation, the active phase of which lasted about 1 hour, became the prologue for the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and marked the beginning of a series of local conflicts with the participation of our country at the end of XX early XXI century.
About 650 people took part in the operation to seize Amin's residence. Muslim battalion - 520 people, airborne company - 87 people and two groups special purpose The KGB of the USSR "Thunder" (24 people) and "Zenith" (30 people), which were supposed to directly seize the palace. The attackers were dressed in Afghan uniforms with white armbands, the password for identifying friend or foe was the shout "Yasha - Misha".
The Muslim battalion was created from soldiers and officers from Central Asia (Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen). When selecting Special attention physical training was given, only those who had served half a year or a year were involved, the principle of voluntariness was the basis, but if there were not enough specialists, a good military expert could be enrolled in the detachment without his consent. The detachment, which due to its size and received the name of the battalion, consisted of 4 companies. The first company was armed with the BMP-1, the second and third BTR-60pb, the fourth company was an armament company, it included an AGS-17 platoon (which had just appeared in the army), a platoon of Lynx infantry jet flamethrowers and a sapper platoon. The detachment had all the corresponding rear divisions: platoons of automobile and material support, communications, additionally the battalion was assigned a platoon of the ZSU "Shilka". An interpreter was attached to each company, but considering National composition, their services were almost never used, all Tajiks, half of Uzbeks and some of the Turkmens knew Farsi, one of the main languages of Afghanistan. The curiosity came out only with the vacancy of an anti-aircraft officer, it was not possible to find the necessary person of the required nationality, and the dark-haired Russian captain Pautov was hired for this position, who, when he was silent, did not stand out in the general mass. The detachment was led by Major Kh. Khalbaev.
The detachment received Afghan uniforms and documents and arrived in Afghanistan at the Bagram base in August 1979. Officially, the battalion was supposed to protect DRA President Hafizullah Amin, in fact, the battalion was used in the opposite direction. To call a spade a spade, the leadership of the USSR immediately prepared a battalion to carry out a coup d'etat in Afghanistan with the establishment of a pro-Soviet government in power. Prior to that, Afghanistan had already asked for military assistance and appealed to both the USSR and the United States, the leadership of the USSR decided to go its own way, to provide assistance only after the removal of the current leader of the country.
To implement the plan, a company of the Airborne Forces and two special-purpose detachments, the formation of which was engaged in the KGB of the USSR, were redeployed to Bagram. Detachment "Zenith" consisted of 24 people from special group A, which later became known as the group "Alpha". Detachment "Thunder" consisted of 30 officers of the special reserve of the KGB of the USSR. All the divisions participating in the assault were armed with the most modern at that time. So the capture of Amin's palace was the first case of using the RPG-18 "Fly". This grenade launcher became widely known, and now the image of a soldier with a "Fly" is firmly associated in consciousness with the participants of the first and second Chechen wars.
Taking Amin's palace was no easy task. An infantry brigade consisting of 3 battalions was deployed around the palace, additionally the guard of the palace was reinforced by a tank battalion and an anti-aircraft regiment, which was armed with 12 100-mm cannons and a large number of DShK machine guns, given that the palace stood on a hill, this artillery could become an insurmountable obstacle for the assault. Amin's personal guard company was located directly in the palace, largely consisting of his relatives. Thus, the forces of the defenders were many times greater than the forces of the attackers.
Operation plan
The plan of the operation provided for the seizure of the palace and the destruction of the air defense systems of the anti-aircraft regiment. The rest of the units were supposed to be blocked in military camps. For the destruction of air defense systems, 2 AGS-17 crews and an engineering platoon were allocated. The grenade launchers were supposed to cut off the anti-aircraft gunners from the air defense systems located in the positions, at this time the engineering platoon was supposed to undermine them.
A separate group was to capture 3 tanks dug in near the palace. For this purpose, 12 people were allocated. Two snipers who were supposed to remove the guards from the tanks, 2 machine gunners, tank crews. They had to drive a GAZ-66 car past the positions of the 3rd guard battalion and seize tanks.
The 2nd and 3rd companies of the Muslim battalion and the company of paratroopers attached to them were to block the location of the battalions of the guard brigade and the tank regiment. For the assault on the palace, the first company was involved, which on its infantry fighting vehicles was supposed to bring the assault troops "Thunder" and "Zenith" to the palace.
Storm
The assault on the palace was carried out in accordance with the plan of the operation, the active phase of the battle lasted about an hour, although the shooting did not stop for another day, some soldiers and officers of the infantry brigade did not want to surrender and fought their way into the mountains. Afghan casualties amounted to about 200 people killed, including Amin and his son, about 1,700 soldiers surrendered. Our losses amounted to 19 people, 5 from the KGB assault groups, another 5 were lost by paratroopers, 9 people were lost to the "Muslim battalion". Almost all members of the assault groups were injured.
The group was the first to leave in a GAZ-66 car, but when the car passed by the location of the 3rd battalion, an alarm was already announced in it, the battalion commander and his deputies stood in the center of the parade ground, the soldiers received weapons and ammunition. The commander of the Sakhatov group was not taken aback and decided to seize the leadership of the battalion. The car drove to the parade ground at full speed, the scouts instantly captured the Afghan officers and took off. When the Afghans came to their senses, it was already late, having driven further away, the group lay down by the road and met the Afghan soldiers who set off in pursuit with fire, advancing in a crowd without the leadership of officers, they became easy prey. The snipers of the group at this time destroyed the sentries from the tanks.
As soon as the shooting began at the positions of the 3rd battalion, a general assault began. Two "Shilki" began to work in the palace, 2 more and the AGS crews began to fire at the barracks and courtyards, preventing the soldiers from leaving the barracks. At the same time, motorized infantry advanced to block the barracks. And assault groups moved to the palace on the BMP. The Afghans quickly came to their senses and opened heavy fire on the BMP moving along the serpentine, they managed to knock out the first car, the paratrooper had to leave it and climb the mountain using ladders specially prepared for such an occasion. As a result, the combat vehicles were at the palace 20 minutes after the start of the operation, followed by an assault and battle for each room of the palace, simultaneously with the beginning of the assault, Shilki should have been silenced, but this did not happen. The communication channel was packed with requests for help from the commander of one of the armored personnel carriers, which fell into a ditch, so a liaison had to be sent to the location of "Shilok" to cease fire across the palace. An hour later, President Hafizullah Amin was already dead.
“The Soviet divisions are already on their way here. Everything is going well, "- said so 40 years ago, on December 27, 1979, the President of Afghanistan Hafizullah Amin to his supporters during a gala dinner. But in the evening it turned out that everything was not so great - the palace of the president was taken by Soviet special forces by storm, and Amin himself was killed in a shootout. For the USSR, these events turned into a ten-year Afghan war, for Afghanistan - the beginning of a permanent conflict that continues to this day ..
Hafizullah Amin's palace. Photo: wikipedia.org
Peaceful non-peaceful Afghanistan
Now this may seem like a bad joke, but from the time of the October Revolution until the end of the seventies, the Soviet-Afghan border was peaceful and calm. Afghanistan was languishing in poverty, but was friendly towards the Soviet Union, the USSR sometimes threw up money in response or built (not free) industrial facilities.
Friendship did not interfere with the fact that the USSR was a "state of workers and peasants", and Afghanistan was a monarchy. But after the left-wing radicals and officers overthrew the last Afghan king in 1973, everything went wrong. Prime Minister who came to power Muhammad Daoud began to build his own dictatorship - and focusing not on the USSR, but on neighboring Islamic countries like Iran.
Tehran even offered financial assistance to Kabul - but on the condition that the communists in the country did not decide anything. Daoud was not against it and began to actively "cleanse" the government of the left (representatives of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan - it will appear more than once in our story).
But the left, oddly enough, was not going to become sacrificial lambs - they quickly prepared a coup. Moreover, in Moscow they found out about him belatedly, the situation was not controlled at all and they were not happy about it. The left-wing officers did not care, and in April 1978 tanks hit the presidential palace. Daud showed that he was not a coward, resisted to the end and died in a shootout.
Military on the streets of Kabul after the Saur revolution. Photo: wikipedia.org After the events known as the Saur Revolution, the PDPA and its Military Revolutionary Council took power. It was headed by Nur Mohammed Taraki, the second person was the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hafizullah Amin.
Building socialism in a single feudal country
Having begun to divide power, the PDPA factions soon quarreled, and in the summer of 1978 the executions of "enemies of the people" began. At the same time there were attempts to redistribute the land (which, by the way, sometimes did not cause delight even among the peasants - "the land has already been divided by Allah") and cultural unification. There was no way to "throw" the backward country from feudalism straight into communism. To the usual poverty in Afghanistan was added acute social tension, which could not be extinguished by the terror unleashed by the PDPA.
A massive emigration of the population to Pakistan began: it was in the refugee camps in this country that an equally massive training of future Mujahideen began. There was no talk of any war with Soviet soldiers yet; the funds of the United States, China and Saudi Arabia were used to train fighters who were eager to fight the Afghan government forces.
By 1979, a civil war had already begun in the country. Taraki pinned his hopes on the help of the USSR - he hoped to build socialism with Soviet help and expressed his readiness to be a loyal and profitable ally. Absolutely fantastic plans were assumed: to raise an uprising in Pakistan in order to "bite off" from it in favor of Afghanistan the territory overlooking the Indian Ocean, and to provide the USSR with access to this water area. In the meantime - to give Afghanistan troops, as many troops as possible. Not necessarily in Soviet uniform: for example, Taraki asked Tajik tankers (outwardly similar to Afghans) to control the tanks of the Afghan army.
Moscow did not think so globally: the Kremlin wanted the PDPA to at least be able to retain power. And there could be problems with this: already in March 1979, the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko were heard in the USSR Politburo: "Under no circumstances can we lose Afghanistan." Even then, Soviet specialists began to die there.
At the same time, Moscow did not show any desire to send troops into the country, the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Andrei Kirilenko rightly stated that "we will have to fight to a large extent with the people." He was echoed by the chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, who believed that "to send your troops means to fight against the people, crush the people, shoot at the people."
The Soviet leaders saw a way out in pursuing a more moderate course and building something like "socialism with a human face." According to one version, during the change of the vector, it was planned to play something like “de-Stalinization” in Afghani - to shift the blame for excesses and repression on Foreign Minister Hafizullah Amin, eliminate him and live happily on.
On the left is Nur Mohammed Taraki, on the right is Hafizullah Amin. Photo: wikipedia.org Amin comes to power
Amin, like the left-wing radicals several years before, did not want to sacrifice himself. In September 1979, a very strange assassination attempt was made on the foreign minister, which many believe was organized by Amin himself. The head of the PDPA leader's security was killed, Hafizullah Amin himself was not injured, and for Nurmuhammed Taraki the incident became a political death: he was accused of all sins, deprived of his posts, imprisoned and eventually strangled with a pillow. Hafizullah Amin became the chairman of the Revolutionary Council.
The death of Taraki was not so much a victory for his opponent as a defeat. Despite repression, voluntarism and mismanagement, Nur Mohammad Taraki won a sincere favor with the Kremlin leaders. Brezhnev called him a friend, Gromyko spoke of the "amazing impression" that the assassination of the ousted leader made on the leadership of the USSR.
Moreover, in terms of repression, Amin did not yield to his predecessor in anything. After coming to power, he began even more briskly to execute those in whom one could suspect enemies. And along with Taraki, he accused the Soviet special services of organizing the assassination attempt on himself.
Henceforth, the Kremlin viewed the new Afghan leader as an enemy, not a friend. There are reports that Soviet workers in Afghanistan are deprived of the opportunity to contact local residents- At one time, according to a similar scenario, the USSR began "losing" Egypt, which suddenly turned from a devoted ally into a pro-American country.
So, Amin had to be removed in order to rectify the situation. However, the USSR no longer had the forces that could achieve the overthrow of Amin inside Afghanistan - in fact, at that very time, such forces were actively and successfully destroyed new leader PDPA. So only Soviet soldiers or agents could capture or kill him.
However, options were also considered for soft pressure. For example, to stop helping Afghanistan financially, at the same time branding Amin in the media in every possible way, which is rather ridiculous: the USSR in this case would simply lose face, and Afghanistan would finally move into the orbit of US or Chinese influence. Therefore, they decided to send troops.
Moreover, Hafizullah Amin was not at all against the presence of the Soviet military in the country: the danger posed by the growing movement of the Mujahideen did not disappear, and the fragility of the PDPA position in the country was also so. And the fact that Moscow does not like the chairman of the Revolutionary Council ... Well, this also happens, you can endure.
Amina are preparing to eliminate
Amin rightly believed that it would not be so easy to remove him: the introduction of troops and the simultaneous elimination of the Afghan leader would look suspiciously like an invasion and would mean international condemnation and war for the USSR.
But the cunning Afghan did not take into account one thing: in Moscow, the fear was absolutely real that Afghanistan under Amin would surely "float away" from the orbit of Soviet influence. And Amin himself, the Soviet leaders believed, works for the CIA. There is still no confirmation or refutation of this fact, but then the "Kremlin elders" decided to do anything.
Despite the initial refusal to help the PDPA with troops, already in the spring of 1979, "just in case" began the formation of the first unit specifically for operations in Afghanistan, the Muslim battalion of the GRU (Musbat). It was almost the same as Taraki asked - consisted of Uzbeks and Tajiks and was, in fact, special forces. In the early summer of 1979, the KGB special forces group "Zenith" was created, also for special operations in the mountainous country.
On December 12, Moscow agreed to send troops to Afghanistan. To begin with, officers went to the southern country to prepare the operation - and at the same time the Muslim battalion, "Zenith", a company of paratroopers and commandos of the famous "Alpha", known as the "Thunder" detachment. Before the main forces (later known as the "Limited Contingent") entered Afghanistan, they had to finally resolve the issue of the objectionable Afghan leader.
Map of the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Photo: wikipedia.org Eliminating Amin was not easy. The dictator did not consider himself safe, and his Taj Bek palace (to which he moved just the other day) was in fact a fortress. About 2,000 people served in the protection, the defense system included artillery and tanks - Amin was ready for a "personal war" even with the whole world.
The group, which was to storm the palace, did not have heavy weapons. The artillery was represented by self-propelled guns "Shilok" and, with a stretch, ATGMs and automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 - all this is absolutely useless against the walls of the palace. The role of armored vehicles was played by armored personnel carriers, BMP and BMD. Numerically, the special forces and paratroopers were much inferior to Amin's guards, there were only a few hundred of them.
Shortly before the storming of the palace, on the afternoon of December 27, 1979, Amin was almost eliminated in the most trivial way: at a dinner (exactly where he expressed his joy at the arrival of Soviet divisions), KGB agents poisoned him, along with several supporters. Everything was "spoiled" by Soviet doctors who were under the dictator. They did not participate in the plan to eliminate Amin, their task was to heal. They cured the poisoned people by washing the stomach and turning the efforts of the KGB officers into nothing. Now it was necessary to storm.
"Storm-333"
He commanded the operation called "Storm-333", Colonel Grigory Boyarinov... Assault groups were sent to the mission in Afghan uniforms with white identification bands, the call signs of the fighters were the names "Yasha" and "Misha" - apparently because the operation was planned by the commanders of "Zenith" and "Thunder" Yakov Semyonov and Mikhail Romanov.
The task of the fighters was, first of all, not to destroy the palace (it was impossible), but to disorganize the security management, lock the personnel in the barracks, prevent even the "correct" battle from starting, and ultimately take it out of fear and get to Amin.
And so it happened. To begin with, the special forces got to the communications center and blew it up - Amin (and everyone else in Kabul) could no longer use their phones. Then the snipers took off the sentries from the tanks. Then began "artillery preparation" from small-caliber cannons "Shilok" and grenade launchers. They did little harm to the enemy, the task was to press them to the ground and prevent them from reaching the tanks.
They worked like in action films: seeing at one moment a guard battalion being built to repel an attack, they rushed in a car to the commander, tied him up, and the demoralized soldiers fled.
The Afghans were not allowed to reach the tanks, all the vehicles were successfully captured. The fire of the Shilok suppressed the large-caliber machine guns beating out of the palace quite well, but the armored vehicles of the assaults also suffered losses. One armored personnel carrier caught fire and fell into the channel, the wheels of another were punctured, one of the “Shilok” providing artillery training successfully got into its own BMP. Many commandos were wounded, one of the "Thunder" fighter was crushed by a maneuvering infantry fighting vehicle. The commander of the operation, Grigory Boyarinov, was also fatally wounded in the neck.
Nevertheless, the commandos managed to break into the palace itself under fire, and the paratroopers and the "Muslim battalion" blocked the barracks. An indoor battle ensued, and it was all over.
When the battle was already coming to an end, information appeared: tanks were coming to the aid of Amin. Not embarrassed, the paratroopers pushed ATGMs forward and fired at the combat vehicles on the road as if in a shooting range, taking the crews prisoner. Amin's artillery did not manage to open fire.
The dictator himself was completely stunned by the attack. According to one of the versions, having learned about the assault, he tried to send a signal for help ... to the Soviet military and until the last did not believe that it was they who were going to capture him.
After the assault
How exactly Amin died is still unclear, his corpse was found in the palace, at the bar - either he was shot, or the dictator "caught" a grenade splinter. It was not possible to check this: the corpse was wrapped in a carpet and buried without a gravestone in who knows where. Along with the Afghan leader, some of his relatives died, others ended up in the same prison where the Taraki family was previously imprisoned.
By accident, a man was also killed, "thanks" to whom the palace had to be stormed - the military doctor Viktor Kuznechenkov, who neutralized the effect of the poison.
The palace after the assault. Photo: wikipedia.org The losses of paratroopers, special forces and Musbat amounted to about 10 people (there are different opinions on this) and several dozen wounded. Hafizullah Amin's guards lost about 10% of their personnel, about 200 people. The rest surrendered or fled to the mountains, continuing to resist.
In addition to the palace, the main objects of the Afghan capital were also taken. Imprisoned supporters of Taraki were released from prisons, the head of the moderate wing of the PDPA Babrak Karmal became the new head of Afghanistan. Soon, the 40th Army, which entered Afghanistan, took up positions. The headquarters is located in the newly taken Taj-bek palace.
From a tactical point of view, the palace of Hafizullah Amin was taken flawlessly, it was a real "perfect assault". The problem was different: the dictator was absolutely right in assessing the prospects for the introduction of Soviet troops simultaneously with the assassination of the leader. These actions caused a strong decline in the international prestige of the USSR and the war. Having not been involved in any major conflict since the Second World War, the Soviet Union this time stepped on the same rake as the United States did in Vietnam.
Despite all the assurances of friendship, despite the construction of infrastructure facilities, assistance in creating medical and educational systems, "Shuravi" - Soviet soldiers - were unambiguously perceived by the population as enemies and occupiers.
The Soviet Union got involved in a long war without any achievable goals and prospects. Zinc coffins went home, the killed mujahideen were replaced by new ones, the war cost colossal money and more than 15 thousand lives. And it ended only ten years later - nothing.
The assassination of the leader of Afghanistan was the beginning of the invasion of the territory of this country by Soviet troops. After this event, a ten-year undeclared war started, costing the Soviet Union thousands of soldiers and officers' lives.
Swap pieces on the political chessboard
The USSR has always paid great attention to supporting friendly regimes in foreign countries... And if the political situation there did not meet the interests of the party and the government, then they did not hesitate to edit it. Afghanistan is no exception. In the late 1970s, as a result of a coup, Moscow's protege, leader of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Nur Taraki, was killed in this country, and Hafizullah Amin, the unwanted USSR, came to power. Taraki's supporters began to be oppressed and persecuted, which was very displeasing to the leadership of the Soviet Union. Information about Amin's cooperation with the US intelligence services strengthened the decision to eliminate the new Afghan leader and replace him with a more loyal to the USSR.
You asked for it
In part, Amin himself brought his end closer. He repeatedly asked the USSR for military assistance. And under the pretext of strengthening "fraternal aid" to the people of friendly Afghanistan, the Soviet Union in December 1979 sent a so-called "Muslim battalion" to this country, which actually consisted of GRU officers. The beginning of the operation coincided with the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Together with the servicemen and equipment, the Kremlin protege Babrak Karmal and several of his supporters were brought to Bagram. The "Muslim battalion" became part of the Amin's palace guard brigade, which greatly simplified the task of eliminating the unwanted ruler. In a short time, Soviet servicemen in Kabul established full control over strategically important facilities.
Operation "Agate"
Operation Agat was prepared and carried out by the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense. The assault team was dressed in Afghan uniforms without insignia. Amin and his guests on the eve of the attack were poisoned by a KGB agent, the chief cook of the presidential palace, they even lost consciousness for a while. The assault on the Taj Bek Palace began on the evening of December 27. A mine detonated in a manhole in the sewer system disabled all telephone communications in Kabul. The assault forces included snipers and armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft guns worked around the palace. The stormtroopers who burst into the building cleared every floor. Until recently, Amin did not believe that he was attacked by Soviet shuravi. As a result of the attack, Amin was killed, most his guards were captivated. In parallel with the palace, our troops captured the General Staff of the Afghan Army and other objects representing strategic importance with the violent overthrow of power. The new leader of the country, Babrak Karmal, was brought to Kabul, and the USSR officially announced that the latter had taken power in connection with the massive discontent of the Afghan people with the policies pursued by the late Amin.
Consequences of the assault
The attack killed over 100 people from among the attackers on the Taj Bek Palace. In addition to Amin, two of his sons and about 200 presidential guards were killed. The West regarded this operation as the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, and subsequently actively supported the Mujahideen with all their might, who fought with the troops of a limited contingent that had been in the country for 10 years. Several participants in the assault received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the group commander Grigory Boyarinov - posthumously. In total, about 700 employees of the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense were awarded for "Agat".
The assault on Amin's palace- a special operation codenamed "Storm-333", preceding the beginning of the participation of Soviet troops in the Afghan war 1979-1989. , during which the special forces of the KGB of the USSR and the Soviet Army at the Taj-Bek residence 34 ° 27'17 ″ s. NS. 69 ° 06′48 ″ in. etc. HGI AMOL in the Dar-ul-Aman region of Kabul on December 27, 1979, Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was assassinated.
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The decision to eliminate Amin
The development of the situation in Afghanistan in 1979 - armed actions of the Islamic opposition, riots in the army, internal party struggles and, especially, the events of September 1979, when the leader of the PDPA N. Taraki was arrested and then killed by order of H. Amin, who removed him from power - caused serious concern among the Soviet leadership. It watched Amin's activities at the head of Afghanistan with caution, knowing his ambition and brutality in the struggle to achieve personal goals. Under Amin, terror unfolded in the country not only against the Islamists, but also against the PDPA members, former supporters of Taraki. The repressions also affected the army, the main support of the PDPA, which led to the fall of its already low morale and caused mass desertions and revolts. The Soviet leadership feared that a further exacerbation of the situation in Afghanistan would lead to the fall of the PDPA regime and the coming to power of forces hostile to the USSR. Moreover, the KGB received information about Amin's ties with the CIA in the 1960s and about secret contacts of his emissaries with American officials after the assassination of Taraki.
As a result, it was decided to eliminate Amin and replace him with a more loyal Soviet leader. As such, B. Karmal was considered, whose candidacy was supported by the chairman of the KGB, Yu. Andropov. At the end of November, when Amin demanded the replacement of the Soviet ambassador A.M. Puzanov, the chairman of the KGB Andropov and the Minister of Defense Ustinov agreed on the need for such a broad operation.
When developing the operation to overthrow Amin, it was decided to use the requests of Amin himself for Soviet military assistance (in total, from September to December 1979, there were 7 such appeals). In early December 1979, the so-called "Muslim battalion" was sent to Bagram (a special-purpose unit of the GRU, specially formed in the summer of 1979 from Soviet servicemen of Central Asian origin to guard Taraki and carry out special tasks in Afghanistan).
The decision to eliminate Amin and to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on December 12, 1979.
To the position in "A".
1. To approve the considerations and measures outlined by vols. Andropov Yu. V., Ustinov DF, Gromyko AA Allow them to make adjustments of a non-fundamental nature in the course of these measures. Questions requiring a decision by the Central Committee should be submitted to the Politburo in a timely manner. The implementation of all these activities shall be entrusted to Comrades. Andropova Yu.V., Ustinova D.F., Gromyko A.A.
2. Instruct comrades. Yu. V. Andropov, DF Ustinov, AA Gromyko to inform the Politburo of the Central Committee about the progress of the planned measures.
Department 8 of Directorate "C" (illegal intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR developed the operation to destroy Amin "Agat", which was part of a larger invasion plan. On December 14, a battalion of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment was sent to Bagram to reinforce the battalion of the 111th Guards Airborne Regiment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, which since July 7, 1979 has been guarding Soviet military transport in Bagram. airplanes and helicopters. At the same time, B. Karmal and several of his supporters were secretly brought to Afghanistan on December 14 and were in Bagram among Soviet servicemen. On December 16, an attempt was made to assassinate Amin, but he survived, and B. Karmal was urgently returned to the USSR. On December 20, a "Muslim battalion" was transferred from Bagram to Kabul, which entered the guard brigade of Amin's palace, which greatly facilitated preparations for the planned assault on this palace. For this operation, 2 KGB special groups also arrived in Afghanistan in mid-December.
For transfer to Afghanistan, except ground forces, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division from Belarus was also trained, which already on December 14 was transferred to airfields in the Turkestan Military District.
On December 25, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began. In Kabul, units of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division by noon on December 27 completed the landing method and took control of the airport, blocking the Afghan aviation and air defense batteries. Other units of this division were concentrated in designated areas of Kabul, where they received tasks to blockade the main government institutions, Afghan military units and headquarters, other important objects in the city and its environs. After a clash with Afghan servicemen, the 357th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 103rd Division and the 345th Guards Parachute Regiment were established over the Bagram airfield. They also provided security for B. Karmal, who was brought back to Afghanistan on December 23 with a group of his closest supporters.
Participants in the operation
The plan of the operation was approved by representatives of the KGB of the USSR and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (B.S.Ivanov, S.K.Magometov), endorsed by Lieutenant General N.N. Major of the KGB V.A.Kirpichenko (deputy head of the KGB PGU, according to documents from the Mitrokhin archive, he was the head of the "C" (illegal intelligence) Department), E.S.Kuzmin, L.P.Bogdanov and V.I. Osadchim ( resident of the KGB of the USSR). The leadership of forces and means was carried out from the Mikron command post deployed at the stadium, here were generals Nikolai Nikitovich Guskov, Sultan Kekezovich Magometov, Boris Semenovich Ivanov and Yevgeny Semenovich Kuzmin, as well as a representative of the Soviet embassy in the DRA, where General Vadim Alekseevich Kirpichenko and Colonel Leonid Pavlovich Bogdanov ensured the coordination of the actions of the units and monitored changes in the situation in the country. They were constantly in direct contact with Moscow. The actions of the KGB special groups were led by Major General Y. Drozdov, and the "Muslim battalion" was led by Colonel of the GRU V. Kolesnik.
The general supervision of the operation "Agat" for the murder of Amin was carried out by the head of the 8th KGB Department (sabotage and intelligence of foreign special forces), Vladimir Krasovsky, who flew to Kabul. General management of Operation Agat was carried out by his deputy AI Lazarenko (Mitrokhin KGB archive, volume 1, chapter 4). The direct leadership of the assault was carried out by Colonel of the KGB Grigory Ivanovich Boyarinov, head of the advanced training courses for officers (KUOS of the KGB of the USSR) (according to the archives of the KGB Mitrokhin, volume 1, chapter 4, - the school for preparation for special operations under Division 8, located in Balashikha). The participants in the assault were divided into two groups: "Thunder" - 24 people. (fighters of the Alpha group, commander - deputy chief of the Alpha group MM Romanov) and Zenit - 30 people. (officers of the special reserve of the KGB of the USSR, graduates of the KUOS; commander - Yakov Fedorovich Semyonov). In the "second echelon" were soldiers of the so-called "Muslim battalion" of Major Kh. T. Khalbaev (520 people) and the 9th company of the 345th separate guards parachute regiment under the leadership of senior lieutenant Valery Vostrotin (80 people).
The attackers were dressed in Afghan uniforms without insignia, with a white armband on their sleeves. The password for identifying their own was the shouts "Yasha" - "Misha". In order to sound masking of the retractable armored personnel carriers, a few days before the assault, they began to drive a tractor in a circle not far from the palace so that the guards got used to the noise of the engines.
Storm
In the afternoon of December 27, during lunch, H. Amin and many of his guests felt unwell, some, including Amin, fainted. This was the result of a special KGB action (the main chef of the palace was Mikhail Talibov, an Azerbaijani, a KGB agent, two Soviet waitresses were serving). Amin's wife immediately called the commander of the presidential guard, who began to call the Central Military Hospital and the Soviet Embassy's polyclinic to call for help. The food and juice were immediately sent for examination, and the cooks were detained. A group of Soviet doctors and an Afghan doctor arrived at the palace. Soviet doctors, unaware of the special operation, helped Amin. These events alerted the Afghan guards.
At 19:10 a group of Soviet saboteurs in a car approached the hatch of the central distribution center of underground communications, drove over it and "stalled". While the Afghan sentry was approaching them, a mine was lowered into the hatch and after 5 minutes an explosion thundered, leaving Kabul without a telephone connection. This explosion was also the signal for the start of the assault.
The assault began at 19:30 local time. Fifteen minutes before the start of the assault, soldiers of one of the groups of the "Muslim" battalion, passing through the location of the third Afghan battalion guards, they saw that an alarm had been declared in the battalion - the commander and his deputies stood in the center of the parade ground, and the personnel received weapons and ammunition. The vehicle carrying the scouts of the "Muslim" battalion stopped near the Afghan officers and they were captured, but the Afghan soldiers opened fire after the retreating vehicle. The scouts of the "Muslim" battalion lay down and opened fire on the attacking guards. The Afghans lost more than two hundred people killed. The snipers, meanwhile, removed the sentries from the tanks dug into the ground near the palace.
Then two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" of the "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the palace, and two more - on the location of the Afghan tank guard battalion in order to prevent its personnel from reaching the tanks. The crews of the AGS-17 "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the location of the second guard battalion, preventing the personnel from leaving the barracks.
On the night of December 27-28, the new Afghan leader B. Karmal arrived in Kabul from Bagram, guarded by KGB officers and paratroopers. Radio Kabul broadcast the appeal of the new ruler to the Afghan people, in which the "second stage of the revolution" was proclaimed. The Soviet newspaper Pravda wrote on December 30 that "as a result of the rising wave of popular anger, Amin, along with his henchmen, was brought before a just people's court and was executed." Karmal praised the heroism of the KGB and GRU troops who stormed the palace, saying: “When we have our own awards, we will reward all Soviet troops and security officers who participated in the hostilities with them. We hope that the government of the USSR will award these comrades with orders ”(Mitrokhin KGB archive, volume 1, chapter 4).
Losses
On the opposite side, Kh. Amin, his two young sons and about 200 Afghan guards and servicemen were killed. The wife of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sh. Vali, who was in the palace, was also killed. Amina's widow and their daughter, wounded during the assault, after serving several years in a Kabul prison, then left for the USSR. [ ]
The killed Afghans, including two young sons of Amin, were buried in a mass grave not far from the palace. Amin was buried there, but separately from the others. No headstone was placed on the grave.
Outcomes
Despite the fact that the operation was carried out successfully in military terms, the very fact of the assassination of the head of state began to be interpreted Western countries as evidence of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and the following leaders of the DRA (Karmal, Najibullah) were called puppet leaders by the leadership of these countries.
Awards
In April 1980, about 400 KGB officers of the USSR who were involved in the operation were awarded orders and medals. Also received government awards about 300 officers and soldiers of the "Muslim" battalion. First Deputy Head of the KGB Foreign Intelligence Department, Colonel Lazarenko, was awarded the rank of Major General, the head of support for illegal residents in Kabul Ismail Murtuza Ogly Aliyev was awarded the Order of the Red Star, as well as other persons from the assault groups (Mitrokhin KGB archive, volume 1, Appendix 2).
For the heroism shown in Operation Storm 333, during the assault on Amin's Taj-bek palace in Dar-ul-Aman during the Afghan war, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to:
- Boyarinov, Grigory Ivanovich (PGU KGB of the USSR) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated 04/28/1980 (posthumously).
- Karpukhin, Viktor Fedorovich (PSU KGB of the USSR) -