KHAD

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Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati (KHAD)
Pashto: د ملي امنیت لوی ریاست
Dari: ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی
Emblem of the KHAD (1980-1987).svg
KHAD emblem from 1980 to 1987.
Agency overview
FormedApril 1978; 46 years ago (1978-04)
Preceding agencies
  • Da Afghanistan da Gato da Saatane Adara (AGSA)
  • Komite-ye Amniyat-e Melli (KAM)
DissolvedApril 1996; 28 years ago (1996-04)
Superseding agencies
JurisdictionAfghanistan
HeadquartersShashdarak Centre, Kabul, Afghanistan
Employees25,000 to 30,000[1]

Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati (Pashto/Dari: خدمات اطلاعات دولتی literally "State Intelligence Agency", also known as "State Information Services"[2] or "Committee of State Security".[3] Usually referred to by the acronym KHAD, it was the main security agency and intelligence agency of Afghanistan. It functioned as the secret police when Afghanistan was occupied by the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War.

History

KHAD emblem from 1987 to 1992.

Pre-KHAD

Afghanistan had an intelligence agency known as the Istikhbarat or Intelligence.[4] However, observers have stated it was incompetent with Afghan leaders since it was ineffective as they preferred to use their personal connections instead.[5]

After the events of the Saur Revolution, the PDPA established AGSA (Da Afghanistan da Gato da Saatane Adara or Afghan Agency for Safeguarding National Interest) as its domestic/foreign intelligence agency[2] with Assadullah Sarwari serving as its first director.[6] Sarwari was known for torturing anyone who disagreed with the PDPA.[7] AGSA operations eventually led to an anti-PDPA insurgency.[8]

In September 1979, AGSA was replaced with KAM (Komite-ye Amniyat-e Melli or National Security Committee)[a] under Hafizullah Amin's direction.[2][6] Several AGSA officials were either placed under surveillance or were arrested.[8]

Aziz Ahmed Akbari was called in to take over from Sarwari when he took refuge in the Soviet Embassy.[9] After two months, Assadullah Amin was appointed by his uncle to lead KAM.[9] KAM did not last long after the Soviets officially entered Afghanistan in 1979.[8]

KHAD establishment

KHAD was created with 1,200 personnel who took over intelligence responsibilities from KAM in December 1979 with most of them being pro-Parchams.[2] It was initially headed by Mohammad Najibullah,[10] alongside Dr.Baha.[2] After Soviet troops were deployed in Afghanistan, KHAD was expanded with Moscow's assistance, which includes sophisticated torture equipment.[7] Najibullah took the opportunity of his post to rise within the PDPA before Major-General Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi took over KHAD duties in November 1985.[11]

Soviet advisors were known to work alongside KHAD personnel and major decisions are not made without their input.[2] In some instances, KHAD agents accompanied KGB Kaskad (Cascade) operators on anti-mujahideen infiltration ops.[12]

The agency's manpower increased from 1,200 to 25,000 or 30,000 personnel.[1]

KHAD was able to turn some mujahideen groups to work with the PDPA by providing incentives such as small arms or money in return for their loyalty by attending loya jirgas and other pro-PDPA activities.[13] They've worked with the KGB to fund and assist Murtaza Bhutto for his involvement in the hijacking of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 326 and with Baluchistan and Sind dissidents, according to files obtained by Vasili Mitrokhin from KGB files.[14] KHAD's infiltration of various mujahideen groups did help to contribute to some of the infighting.[14]

Post-KHAD

On 9 January 1986, KHAD was changed with its name to WAD (Wazarat-e Amaniat-e Dowlati or Ministry of State Security).[11] It was reported that WAD was placed in charge of controlling the Kabul Garrison.[11] Its budget and size were expanded.[8]

In March 1990, Lieutenant-General Shahnawaz Tanai attempted a coup, which was suppressed by WAD-led forces.[11]

During the civil war in the 1990s, the Northern Alliance recruited ex-KHAD officers and agents to act as their moles operating behind Taliban territory.[6] The Taliban also had ex-KHAD officers and agents among their informants.[6]

Recruitment

Potential KHAD recruits have to be known PDPA members.

Training

Kaskad operators were responsible for training KHAD personnel.[15] Others were trained at the KGB School at Balashikha, Uzbekistan.[16]

Structure

KHAD

KHAD was known to have the following organizational structures in place:[2]

Headquarters

  • Directorate of Administration and Finance
  • Directorate of Cadre / Personnel
  • Directorate of Interrogation
  • Directorate of Intelligence and Afghan Diplomatic Missions Abroad
  • Directorate of Post and Parcels
  • Directorate for Operative Activities for Internal Control of KhAD Personnel
  • Directorate for Economy and Anti Corruption
  • Directorate for Counter Rebellion: Two Sub-Directorates covering 16 provinces each. Known to have three military battalions based in Kabul to assist with arrests and other investigative work.
  • Directorate for Surveillance of Foreign and National Suspects
  • Directorate of the Press and Educational Institutions
  • Directorate for the Protection of the Government and its Representatives
  • Directorate of Propaganda and Counter-Propaganda
  • Directorate of Telecommunications and Decoding
  • Directorate for Activities Linked to Infiltration of Mujaheddin
  • Directorate of Logistics
  • Directorate for Agents and Informers
  • Directorate of Analysis and Reporting
  • Military KhAD: Embedded in the Ministry of Defense to prevent infiltration by mujahideen groups.
  • Police KhAD: Embedded in the Ministry of Interior to prevent infiltration by mujahideen groups.

Provincial

  • Administration and Finance
  • Cadre / Personnel Directorate
  • Surveillance of foreign and national suspects
  • Interrogation
  • Post and Parcels
  • Operative activities for internal control of KhAD personnel
  • Propaganda and counter-propaganda
  • Economy and Anti-Corruption
  • Press and Educational institutions
  • Logistics
  • Counter-Rebellion: 2 Sub-Directorates covering 16 Provinces each
  • Protection of the government and its representatives
  • Telecommunication and Decoding
  • Activities linked to infiltration of Mujaheddin
  • Agents and Informer Unit
  • Analysis and Reporting
  • City District Offices
  • Rural District Offices
  • Military and Police KhAD within the respective ministries' structures

While not part of the KHAD structure, Mufreza militias, recruited from tribal and anti-government militias who agreed to work with them, are finally supported by the agency.[2]

WAD

The WAD was known to have the following organizational structures in place:[2]

  • Directorate-General for Security: Ensure WAD's internal/external security.
  • Directorate-General for Military Security: Successor of Military KHAD forces.
  • Directorate-General for the Interior: Successor of Civilian KHAD activities on monitoring anti-government activities in and out of Afghanistan.

Human rights abuses

KHAD was also accused of human rights abuses in the mid-1980s.[1][11] These included the use of torture, the use of predetermined "show trials" to dispose of political prisoners, and widespread arbitrary arrest and detention. Secret trials and the execution of prisoners without trial were also common.

It was especially active and aggressive in the urban centers, especially in Kabul. Organizations such as Amnesty International continued to publish detailed reports of KHAD's use of torture and of inhumane conditions in the country's prisons and jails.[17]

KHAD also operated eight detention centers in the capital, which were located at KHAD headquarters, at the Ministry of the Interior headquarters, and at a location known as the Central Interrogation Office. The most notorious of the Communist-run detention centers was Pul-e-Charkhi prison, where 27,000 political prisoners are thought to have been murdered.[18][19] Recently mass graves of executed prisoners have been uncovered dating back to the Soviet era.[20]

On 29 February 2000, when The Netherlands had no diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a disputed report on the involvement of the KHAD on human rights abuses, partly based on secret sources, allegedly biased political sycophants from the side of the Taliban and the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Some of its conclusions were already published in the Dutch press before the official publication of the full report.[21] This report, quoted frequently in the cases of Afghan asylum seekers to support the exclusion ground of article 1F of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in the national refugee policy of the Netherlands, was also published in an English translation on 26 April 2001.[11] In 2008, another report on this matter was published by the UNHCR. In this report, some conclusions of the Dutch report were contested.[2]

On 14 October 2005, the District Court in the Hague convicted two high-ranking KhAD officers who sought asylum in the Netherlands in the 1990s. Hesamuddin Hesam and Habibullah Jalalzoy were found guilty of complicity to torture and violations of the laws and customs of war, committed in Afghanistan in the 1980s.[22] Hesam was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. He was the head of the military intelligence service (KhAD-e-Nezamy) and deputy minister of the Ministry of State Security (WAD). Jalalzoy was the head of the unit investigations and interrogations within the military intelligence of the KhAD. He was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment.[23]

On 29 January 2007, the Dutch appeal court upheld the sentences.[24] The judgements were confirmed by the Dutch Supreme Court on 10 July 2008.[25]

On 25 June 2007, the District Court in the Hague acquitted another senior KhAD officer. General Abdullah Faqirzada was one of the deputy heads of the KhAD-e-Nezamy from 1980 until 1987. Although the court held it plausible that Faqirzada was closely involved with the human rights abuses in the military branch of the KhAD, it concluded there was no evidence for his individual involvement nor his command responsibility for the specific crimes the charge was based upon.[26] On 16 July 2009, the Dutch appeal court upheld the acquittal.[27]

Directors of KHAD and its predecessors

No. Organization Director Took office Left office Political affiliation
1 AGSA Assadullah Sarwari April 1978 September 1979 PDPA – Khalq
2 KAM Asadullah Amin September 1979 December 1979
3 KhAD Mohammad Najibullah 11 January 1980 21 November 1985 PDPA – Parcham
4 Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi 6 December 1985 16 April 1992
WAD
5 Osman Sultani 16 April 1992 28 April 1992
6 Mohammed Fahim April 1992 April 1996 Jamiat-e Islami

Legacy

The National Directorate of Security is treated as the successor of KHAD.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Some other sources mention that KAM stands for Kargari Astekhbarati Muassessa or Worker's Intelligence Institute[9] and Kargarano Amniyati Mu’asasa or Workers' Security Institution.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Afghanistan".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/482947db2.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Hänni, Riegler & Gasztold 2020, p. 49.
  5. ^ Hänni, Riegler & Gasztold 2020, p. 129.
  6. ^ a b c d "Afghanistan Intelligence War > Air University (AU) > Article Display".
  7. ^ a b Hyman, Anthony (1982). "Afghan intelligentsia 1978-81: For four traumatic years all independent thinkers have been under attack". Index on Censorship. 11 (2): 8–9. doi:10.1080/03064228208533353. S2CID 143952115.
  8. ^ a b c d e Landsford 2017, p. 433.
  9. ^ a b c Article title[bare URL PDF]
  10. ^ "Moscow's Man in Kabul Crucial to Soviet Pullouts". Los Angeles Times. 19 October 1986.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Refworld | Afghanistan - Security Services in Communist Afghanistan (1978-1992). AGSA, KAM, KhAD and WAD".
  12. ^ "Russian Guerilla SOF: KASKAD - Putin's Foreign Legion of Hybrid Warfighters". 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War".
  14. ^ a b "Spies, Lies and the Distortion of History - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG1078.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "Baltic Defence College - Home" (PDF).
  17. ^ The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World By Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin. Basic Books, 2005. ISBN 0-465-00311-7 p. 408
  18. ^ Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Robert D. Kaplan. Vintage, 2001. ISBN 1-4000-3025-0 p. 115
  19. ^ Kabul's prison of death BBC, 27 February 2006
  20. ^ In pictures: Afghan mass grave BBC, 5 July 2007
  21. ^ in daily newspaper Trouw on 29 November 1999, p. 3, article by Ruut Verhoeven "Afghanistan: niemand kon zich onttrekken aan beulswerk"
  22. ^ "ICD - Jalalzoy - Asser Institute".
  23. ^ Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage, parketnummer 09/751005-04, Oktober 14, 2005.
  24. ^ Gerechtshof 's-Gravenhage, parketnummer 09/751005-04, rolnummer 22-006132-05, and Gerechtshof 's-Gravenhage, parketnummers 09-751004-04 en 09-750006-05, rolnummer 22-006131-05, 29 January 2007.
  25. ^ More information in English at "The Hague Justice Portal"
  26. ^ Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage, parketnummer 09/750001-06, 25 June 2007.
  27. ^ Gerechtshof 's-Gravenhage, parketnummer 09/750001-06, rolnummer 22-004581-07, 16 July 2009.
  28. ^ BBC (14 August 2011). "Afghanistan's dysfunctional security agencies". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 July 2015.

Bibliography

  • Hänni, Adrian; Riegler, Thomas; Gasztold, Przemyslaw, eds. (2020). Terrorism in the Cold War: State Support in the West, Middle East and Latin America. New York, USA: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0755600236.
  • Landsford, Tom (2017). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. USA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598847598.
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