Abdul Qadir Dagarwal

Colonel General Abdul Qadir (Pashto: Dari: , 1944 – 22 April 2014), was an Afghan military officer and politician. He was a participant of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état that created the Republic of Afghanistan under President Mohammad Daoud Khan, and later directed the Afghan Air Force and Army Air Corps squadrons that attacked the Radio-TV station during the Saur Revolution.

He served as the acting head of state for three days when the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) took power and declared the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, before handing over power to PDPA leader Noor Mohammad Taraki. He later served two terms as Minister of Defense, the first as part of the Taraki government from April to August 1978, and the latter as part of the Babrak Karmal government from 1982 to 1986.

Qadir's second term took place during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Early life and military career Abdul Qadir was born in the city of Herat in the Herat Province, Afghanistan, in 1944. He was an ethnic Tajik whose family hailed from the Herat Province.

He joined the Afghan Armed Forces military academy in 1962 and trained as a pilot, in the Soviet Union, where he qualified to fly the MiG-15, MiG-21, and Su-7.

Following the seizure of power, Amin and Karmal disagreed on how the party should announce their seizure of power with Amin wanting Taraki to claim power since he was the most recognizable face of the movement while Karmal disagreed. As a compromise Taraki decided that military officers, Watanjar and Qadir should announce the revolution. At 19:00 on 27 April, Qadir and Aslam Watanjar made an announcement over Radio Afghanistan, with Qadir giving the announcement in the Dari language and Watanjar in Pashto, that a Revolutionary Council of the Armed Forces had seized power. The council's initial statement of principles, issued late in the evening of 27 April was a noncommittal affirmation of Islamic, democratic, and nonaligned ideals:

The Revolutionary Council was formed by himself, Hafizullah Amin, and Major Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, it assumed the control of the country until a civilian government was formed. On 30 April the newly created PDPA's Revolutionary Council (with Nur Mohammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal in its leadership) issued the first of a series of fateful decrees. The decree formally abolished the military's revolutionary council. A second decree, issued on 1 May, named the members of the first cabinet that included Qadir as Minister of Defence. When interviewed by French journalists from Télévision Française 1, on 11 May 1978, Abdul Qadir appeared to be sweating profusely.

Member of the Khalqist Government He became minister of defense, for three months starting in May 1978. On 6 May Qadir asked the Soviet commanders for advice on how to deal with all the people under arrest. On 17 August, Qadir, still defence minister, was arrested for his part in a conspiracy that allegedly had been organized by the Parchams exiled abroad. Since Qadir remained popular in the military, President Taraki did not dare to kill him and instead he was sentenced to fifteen years in jail.

Member of the Parchamite Government After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 that assassinated Hafizullah Amin, Qadir was released from jail under the new regime of Babrak Karmal, the political posts he held in the PDPA before being sent to jail were restored. He served once again as Minister of Defence (1982–1985) during the Babrak Administration.

Views At a mourning ceremony in Moscow to honour the memory of Ahmad Shah Massoud"Though Massoud and I used to be enemies I am sure he deserves great respect as an outstanding military leader and, first of all, as a patriot of his country". - 2001-09-21