The Afghan Civil War was fought from 14 November 1928 to 13 October 1929. Rebelling, and subsequently governing Saqqawist (Saqāwīhā) forces under Habibullāh Kalakāni fought against various opposing tribes and rival monarchs in the Kingdom of Afghanistan, among whom Mohammed Nādir Khān eventually achieved a preponderant role. Despite early successes, such as the capture of Kabul and defeat of Amanullah Khan on 17 January 1929 or the capture of Kandahar on 3 June, the Saqqawists were eventually deposed by anti-Saqqawist forces led by Nadir on 13 October 1929, leading to Nadir's ascension as King of Afghanistan, who ruled until his assassination on 3 November 1933.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. It relied heavily on assistance from the Soviet Union for most of its existence, especially during the Soviet–Afghan War.
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad Khan (Barakzai) and former King Shah Shujah (Durrani), whom they reinstalled upon occupying Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian force occupied Kabul and endured harsh winters. The force and its camp followers were almost completely massacred during the 1842 retreat from Kabul.
Afghanistan Liberation Organization is a Maoist political group in Afghanistan. It was founded by Faiz Ahmad and some others in 1973. ALO is one of several organizations that grew out of the Sholaye Javid movement. ALO was originally named Revolutionary Group of the Peoples of Afghanistan ; it was renamed in 1980.
Khalq was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical de facto leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by the same movement. The Khalq wing was formed in 1967 after the split of the party due to bitter resentment with the rival Parcham faction which had a differing revolutionary strategy.
Bala Hissar was an ancient fortress located in the south of the old city of Kabul, Afghanistan. The estimated date of construction is around the 5th century AD. Bala Hissar sits to the south of the modern city centre at the tail end of the Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain. The Walls of Kabul, which are 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 12 feet (3.7 m) thick, start at the fortress and follow the mountain ridge in a sweeping curve down to the river. It sports a set of gates for access to the fortress. The Kōh-e Shēr Darwāzah mountain is behind the fort. It was destroyed by the British in 1880.
The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution, also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and overthrew Afghan president Mohammed Daoud Khan, who had himself taken power in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état and established an autocratic one-party system in the country. Daoud and most of his family were executed at the Arg in the capital city of Kabul by Khalqi military officers, after which his supporters were also purged and killed. The successful PDPA uprising resulted in the creation of a socialist Afghan government that was closely aligned with the Soviet Union, with Nur Muhammad Taraki serving as the PDPA's General Secretary of the Revolutionary Council. Saur or Sowr is the Dari-language name for the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar, during which the events took place.
Fazel Ahmad Zekrya, known professionally as Nainawaz was a renowned Afghan artist, poet and composer. He has composed some of the most iconic pieces in Afghan popular music.
Afghanistan Mujahedin Freedom Fighters Front was a united front of four Afghan paramilitary factions including the Revolutionary Group of the Peoples of Afghanistan and the Liberation Organization of the People of Afghanistan (SAMA)—together with moderate Islamists including the Afghanistan National Liberation Front, in June 1979. They set aside their ideological differences in the fight against a common enemy. The Front fought against the pro-Soviet government and later also the Soviet Army during the Soviet–Afghan War.
The Afghan mujahideen (Pashto: افغان مجاهدين) were Islamist resistance militias that fought the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent First Afghan Civil War.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was the government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was recognised diplomatically by only eight countries which were allies of the Soviet Union. It was ideologically close to and economically and militarily dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.
The siege of the British Residency in Kabul was a military engagement of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British resident, Sir Louis Cavagnari and his escort were massacred after an 8-hour siege by mutinous Afghan troops inside their Residency in Kabul. This event triggered the second phase of the war, during which an Anglo-Indian army invaded Afghanistan and captured Kabul.
The Herat uprising, locally known as the Uprising of 24th Hūt was an insurrection that took place in and around the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, across several days in March 1979. It included both a popular uprising and a mutiny of ethnic Tajik Afghan Army troops against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). The communist regime at first appealed to its Soviet allies for help, but the Soviet leadership declined to intervene. After the insurgents seized and held the city for about a week, the regime was able to retake it with its own forces, and the subsequent aerial bombardment and recapture of Herat left 3,000 to 25,000 of its inhabitants dead. It was the worst outbreak of armed violence in the country in 50 years, and was the deadliest incident in the 1978-1979 period following the Saur Revolution and before the start of the Soviet occupation.
As a geographically fragmented state, Afghanistan is separated into as many as 14 ethnic groups that have historically faced divisions that devolved into political violence. This conflict reached its culminating point in the 1990s with the rise of the Taliban.
The Arg is the presidential palace of Afghanistan, located in Kabul. Since the 2021 abolition of the Afghan presidency by the Taliban, it has served as the meeting place of the Cabinet of Afghanistan. The palace sits on a 34-hectare (83-acre) site in District 2, between Deh Afghanan and the affluent neighbourhood of Wazir Akbar Khan; it has historically been used by many Afghan heads of state, from Abdur Rahman Khan to Ashraf Ghani.
The 207th 'Zafar' (Victory) Corps was a corps of the Afghan National Army. It was headquartered at Camp Zafar, Herat, in Herat Province in the west of Afghanistan.
Abdul Majid Kalakani also known as Majid Agha was a political revolutionary. He was the founder and leader of the Liberation Organization of the People of Afghanistan (SAMA).
The Chindawol uprising was an insurrection that took place on June 23, 1979 in the Chindawol district in the old city of Kabul, Afghanistan. The rebellion was caused by the arrests of scholars and influential fighters of the city's Shia communities by the ruling Khalq-PDPA government. Chindawol was predominantly populated by these communities. The protests started when residents attacked and held a police station that day, marching on the streets and on Joda-i Maiwand whilst shouting religious and anti-government slogans. Several thousands took part. The government brutally cracked down on them in a four-hour battle, using Mil Mi-24 helicopters, and around 10,000 Hazaras were arrested and executed.
The 1979 uprisings in Afghanistan were a series of uprisings against the PDPA-Khalq government of Afghanistan by various Maoist, Islamist and minority groups. These uprisings were supported by many foreign nations such as Iran's new Islamic republic, the United States and Pakistan and were subsequently crushed by the Afghan Army. Many Islamist groups which had been training in exile to overthrow the previous President Daoud Khan saw the opportunity to start a Jihad against the PDPA government. The uprisings would eventually culminate into the Soviet-Afghan War and following civil Wars.
The Afghan Commando Forces were the former combined commando, paratrooper and special formations of the Afghan Armed Forces, composed of numerous brigades, regiments and battalions established by King Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1964 and disbanded in 1992, following the collapse of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the events of the Afghan Civil War.
Nur Muhammad Taraki 
