Word: karmal
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1980
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...floundering Kabul government of Party Boss Babrak Karmal was ordered to clamp martial law and a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the capital. Soviet troop reinforcements were rushed into the city to put down growing disturbances. Nonetheless, firefights that caused at least 50 casualties broke out in several parts of the city. As rebel leaders threatened to mount a full-scale attack on Kabul in March, intelligence officials in Washington could scarcely contain their glee at the Soviets' discomfiture. Said one defense analyst: "They've really got their feet in the quagmire...
...only in the mountain passes but also reportedly in Kabul and other cities. There were unconfirmed rumors from the Afghan capital of widespread looting by Soviet troops, and even of gunfights involving Cabinet members in the government of national unity named by the U.S.S.R.'s puppet strongman, Babrak Karmal. The wildest story was that Karmal had been deposed in favor of former Secret Police Chief Assadullah Sarwari, a hard-line Stalinist...
Even if he still held office, Karmal's position was less than secure. His official photographs have been removed from government offices and public squares, and he has not been seen publicly for the past two weeks. Late last month a surprisingly strong criticism of Karmal's attempts to form a broader political base appeared in the Kabul New Times, a government-run English-language daily. Karmal, who is believed to have ties among both the deposed royal family and the frontier tribes, had included non-Marxists in his government. Knowing that many of the Cabinet members were...
Indeed they would not, especially since they had hand-picked Karmal to rule Afghanistan after the overthrow and execution of Hafizullah Amin last December. Karmal did seem to be losing control of events. Early last week, diplomats living near the People's Palace in Kabul heard bursts of machine-gun fire coming from inside the building. This led to speculation that a quarrel had erupted among rival members of the Politburo and had ended in a gunfight. Lending credence to that theory was an official Afghan news agency report a couple of days later that said that Deputy Premier...
...took part in the original invasion, suggested that the Soviets are settling in for a long stay. Oil Tycoon Armand Hammer last week said that Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin had assured him that the troops would leave; but they surely will not go until the Kabul government of Babrak Karmal is secure and the insurgency is under control -and that could take months, if not years...