Babrak Karmal - Later Life and Death

Later Life and Death

For unknown reasons, Karmal was invited back to Kabul by Najibullah, "for equally obscure reasons Karmal accepted." If Najibullah's plan was to strengthen his position within the Homeland Watan Party (the renamed PDPA) by appeasing the pro-Karmal Parchamites he failed. Karmal's apartment became a centre for opposition to Najibullah's government. When Najibullah was toppled in 1992, Karmal was not arrested, and continued to live in liberty. When the government finally collapsed, Karmal became the leading force in Kabul through his leadership of the Parcham. Negotiations with the rebels soon collapsed, and the rebels led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar took Kabul on 16 April. After the fall of Najibullah's government, Karmal was based in Hairatan. There, it is alleged, Karmal used most of his time either trying to establish a new party, or advising people to join the National Islamic Movement (NIM). Abdul Rashid Dostum, the leader of NIM, was a supporter of Karmal during his rule. It is unknown how much control Karmal had over Dostum, but there is little evidence that Karmal had any control over Dostum at all. What is more probable is that Karmal's influence over Dostum was indirect – some of his former associates supported Dostum. Those who talked to Karmal during this period noted his lack of interest in politics. In early December 1996, Karmal died in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital from liver cancer. The date of his death was reported by some sources as 1 December and by others as 3 December. The Taliban summed up his rule as follows:

" committed all kinds of crimes during his illegitimate rule ... God inflicted on him various kinds of hardship and pain. Eventually he died of cancer in a hospital belonging to his paymasters, the Russians."