Early Life and Career
Najibullah was born in February 1947 in the city of Kabul, in the Kingdom of Afghanistan. His ancestral village is located between the towns of Said Karam and Gardēz in Paktia Province, this place is known as Mehlan. He was educated at Habibia High School in Kabul, St. Joseph's School in Baramulla Kashmir, and Kabul University, where he graduated with a doctor degree in medicine in 1975. He belongs to the Ahmadzai sub-tribe of the Ghilzai Pashtun tribe in Gardiz.
In 1965 Najibullah joined the Parcham faction of the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and in 1977 joined the Central Committee.
In April 1978 the PDPA took power in Afghanistan, with Najibullah a member of the ruling Revolutionary Council. However, the Khalq faction of the PDPA gained supremacy over his own Parcham faction, and after a brief stint as Ambassador to Iran, he was dismissed from government and went into exile in Europe.
Read more about this topic: Mohammad Najibullah
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