Faiz Mohammed (Afghan communist)

Faiz Muhammad (1939–11 September 1980) was a prominent Afghan statesman and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, being a former ambassador to Indonesia and Iraq. He was also head of the Operation Department of the 444th Commando Battalion, Minister of the Interior of Afghanistan and Minister of Border Affairs of Afghanistan.

Early life
Faiz Muhammad was born in a Pashtun family, belonging to the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan while it was still under the rule of the British Raj in 1939. He would remain there with his family, seeing the fall of the British Raj and the birth of the Republic of Pakistan. Shortly after, he and his family moved to Kingdom of Afghanistan in the early 1950s where they’d resume their lives as normal in the city of Kabul. Graduating from Afghan military institutions became a trend in Faiz's young adulthood, as a decade later, in 1961, he graduated from the Kabul Military Lyceum of Khushal Khan and in 1964, he graduated from the Infantry Faculty of the Kabul Military Academy. He also completed two “C” parachute training courses of the 1st Central Army Corps, along with other commandos such as Rafiq Hidayatullah, Gul Agha and Abdul Baqi. The 444th Commando Battalion would subsequently be formed from the soldiers who completed the course.

Details about his time in the Afghan Army as enlisted personnel is unknown, but upon graduating in 1964, he was already a lieutenant. In the span of five years, he made his way up the ranks and was promoted to captain, previously being a Senior Lieutenant in 1966. Faiz would spend two years in a special training course for airborne officers in the Soviet Union, from 1969 to 1970. As a result of all the knowledge he gained from being under the tutelage of officers in the Soviet Airborne Forces, he was eligible to hold the post of head of the Operation Department of one of the elite 444th Commando Paratrooper Battalion. Simultaneously with his service in the army, he was also a member of a secret armed group known as the Revolutionary Democratic Organization, linked to the Parcham faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.

Career during the Republic of Afghanistan
Faiz Muhammad was involved in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état that would bring Mohammad Daoud Khan to power, storming the royal palace (Arg Residential Palace) along with other commandos of the 444th Commando Battalion such as General Khushal Peroz. For leading the commando battalion during the coup into the Arg Presidential Palace and Kabul International Airport, Faiz was promoted to Major and a year later, he became a Lieutenant Colonel after passing the rank of Senior Captain.

Ever since July 17, 1973, he was a member of the country's highest authority – the Central Committee of the Republic of Afghanistan headed by President Daoud. At the same time, he also served as the Minister of Interior, overseeing an investigation into military personnel accused of being involved in the death of Prime Minister Mohammed Hashim Maiwandwal. As the new Minister of Interior, Faiz attempted to create resentment among tribal leaders outside of the country’s urban areas and intellectuals in urban areas such as Kabul. Before Abdul Qadir Nuristani could replace him as the Minister of Interior, Faiz intentionally appointed many twelfth-grade graduates (who were in the PDPA, therefore being unacceptable to tribal leaders and rural chieftains) to create resentment among older people, more specifically tribal leaders.

According to the official report, Maiwandwal committed suicide while being imprisoned although it was widely believed he was tortured to death by Parchamites who had control of the Ministry of Interior as he was a staunch anti-leftist, therefore a threat to the PDPA. In December 1973, Faiz's investigation would lead to those accused being given long term prison sentences with some being sentenced to death. According to another account, President Daoud Khan planned to appoint Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal as the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, leading to Faiz Mohammad, along with other Parchamites, framing Maiwandwal in a coup plot, then torturing him to death without Daoud Khan's knowledge.

After Maiwandwal's death, Daoud began removing leftists from his cabinet, worsening of relations between left-wing officers and Daoud Khan, as well as the National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan. This led to Faiz being moved to a politically less significant post of Minister of the Borders in 1975, convening in relations with the Pashtun tribes as a Pashtun himself. In 1977, he was appointed as the Afghan ambassador to Indonesia.

Career during the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The worsening relations between leftists and republicans ultimately resulted in the Saur Revolution where communist military officers overthrew the autocratic government of Daoud Khan and established the Marxist–Leninist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1978. In contrast to Faiz gaining various new positions after the 1973 Republican coup d’état, the Khalq government only appointed him as the Afghan ambassador to Iraq.

Due to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, President Hafizullah Amin was assassinated and Babrak Karmal was appointed as the new president of Afghanistan, replacing the Khalq with a Parcham-dominated government. Under Karmal's administration, he became a member of the Central Committee of the PDPA and the Revolutionary Council of Afghanistan and on January 11, 1980, he became the Minister of Border Affairs. In his role, he led the process of establishing relations with Pashtun tribal leaders who had a negative attitude towards the regime due to the Marxist policies of the Khalq government and torture. As a former minister of the government, Faiz enjoyed authority among a number of tribal leaders with whom he personally negotiated loyalty to the PDPA authorities.

Death
In September 1980, Faiz Muhammad and two escorts were in Paktia Province, where they participated in a negotiation process with the leaders of the Pashtun Jadran tribe. On September 11, all three were killed by mujahideen led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, who belonged to the Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Yunus Khalis), in their sleep. He was the only minister of the PDPA government who died during the performance of his duties at the hands of Mujahideen, who violated the Pashtun tradition of respect for the guest. It is speculated that Faiz Mohammed was killed in response to the physical destruction by the PDPA government of prominent religious leaders of the country in 1979, but Faiz himself could not be involved, as he was involved in diplomatically easing opposition to the government.

Awards

 * The title Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan with the award of the "Golden Star" medal and Order of the Saur Revolution (1986, posthumously).