The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

L.P. Bogdanov:At about 8 a.m. armed soldiers appeared in the reception room of the head of AGSA,Sarwari. Among them was Deputy Head of Security Services Navab (a distant relative ofAmin’s), the head of the political section of the security services, Saltan, and an accompanyingofficer. The head of AGSA’s personal bodyguard, Kasem, renowned for his extraordinarycourage and nicknamed “The Lion,” was seated at a desk. The visitors asked if Sarwari was inhis office. Kasem, who had been instructed to do so earlier by his chief, replied that visitorswere not permitted to enter if armed. They pushed him aside and approached the door toSarwari’s office, at which point Kasem shot and killed Navab with his submachine gun. Saltanreturned fire and killed Kasem instantly. Saltan opened the door only to discover thatSarwari’s office was empty. Amin was promptly informed of the incident, after which heimmediately called the Soviet embassy and requested a meeting with Ivanov.An interpreter accompanied Boris Semyonovich and me to the meeting. By that pointAmin had moved from the main government building to that of the General Staff, also behindthe fortress wall of the vast Ark compound. Amin greeted us with his characteristic smile andasked if it had been long since I’d returned from vacation. I told him briefly about yesterday’sevents, including his opponents’ visit to the embassy. “I know everything,” he said with a smile.“I even know that Watanjar called the Fourth and Fifteenth Tank Brigades from the embassyto appeal to the commanders to act against me.”Boris Semyonovich expressed his condolences related to the death of Navab. Then Amindescribed the situation. It turned out that yesterday, after the departure of the Sovietcomrades from Taraki’s residence, Amin continued his conversation with the head of state and531