The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

The poison worked, but strangely, only in the case of the nephew. On the morning ofDecember 14, it became known that doctors had been summoned to the palace, includingthose from the Soviet Military Hospital. The doctors reported that Asadullah had been sentto the hospital under suspicion of severe food poisoning. By the evening, the decision hadbeen made to evacuate him to Moscow for further treatment.At the same time, the Center issued the order for Babrak Karmal’s departure fromTashkent to Bagram. De facto it meant the beginning of the second stage of the operation.Ivanov reported the situation to Kryuchkov over the telephone.“Asadullah Amin is in the hospital on an IV. Attempts have been made to pump hisstomach and to purify his blood. He is in bad condition. As to Hafizullah Amin, according toinformation that we have as of now, his condition is of no concern. He continues to workaccording to his regular regime.”“Why?” snapped Kryuchkov. “Can you explain to me what this means? Where is yourman who served them lunch? What does he have to say?”The operative Mikhail T., whom Kryuchkov had in mind, was back in Amin’s kitchenagain. Earlier that morning, he was urgently transferred from Bagram back to Kabul, onaccount of Amin having survived the attempted poisoning without apparent suspicion ofhis cook’s involvement. The “cook” had acted according to plan. He added poison to thecontainer with Coca-Cola and personally watched Amin drink the entire glass of it. Ivanovreported this to Kryuchkov.690