Operation Storm-333
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Operation Storm-333 (russian: Шторм-333, ), also known as the Tajbeg Palace Assault, was executed by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
on 27 December 1979. It saw
Spetsnaz Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...
storm the heavily fortified
Tajbeg Palace Tajbeg Palace ( ps, د تاج بېګ ماڼۍ; fa, قصر تاج بيگ; ''Palace of the Large Crown''), also inaccurately called the Queen's Palace, is one of the palaces in the popular Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. The stately mansion is ...
in
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
and subsequently assassinate Afghan leader
Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanist ...
, a
Khalq Khalq ( ps, خلق, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also ...
ist of the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
(PDPA) who had taken power in the
Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
of April 1978. The Soviet military operation marked the beginning of what would later become known as the
Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
. The assassination of Amin was part of a larger Soviet plan to secure and take control of Afghanistan with support from the PDPA's
Parcham Parcham (Pashto and prs, پرچم, ) was the name of one of the factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, formed in 1967 following its split and led for most of its history by Babrak Karmal and Mohammed Najibullah. The basic id ...
faction, which opposed the hardline ideology espoused by the rival Khalq faction; a number of Soviet troops crossed the
Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...
and entered Afghanistan by land while others flew to airbases around the country with exiled Parchamis in preparation for the assassination. The Tajbeg Palace, located on a high and steep hill in Kabul,https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/WP51_Web_Final.pdf was surrounded by landmines and guarded by extraordinarily large contingents of the
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
. Nonetheless, Afghan forces suffered major losses during the Soviet operation; 30 Afghan palace guards and over 300 army guards were killed while another 150 were captured. Two of Amin's sons, an 11-year-old and a 9-year-old, died from shrapnel wounds sustained during the clashes. In the aftermath of the operation, a total of 1,700 Afghan soldiers who surrendered to Soviet forces were taken as prisoners, and the Soviets installed
Babrak Karmal Babrak Karmal (Farsi/Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Part ...
, the leader of the PDPA's Parcham faction, as Amin's successor. Several other government buildings were seized from Amin's Khalqist government during the operation, including those for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the
KHAD prs, ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی , nativename_r = , seal = Emblem of the KHAD (1980-1987).svg , seal_width = 100px , seal_caption = KHAD emblem from 1980 to 1987. , formed = , preceding1 = Da Af ...
, and the General Staff (
Darul Aman Palace Darul Aman Palace ( ps, د دارالامان ماڼۍ; prs, قصر دارالامان; 'Abode of Peace' or, in a double meaning, 'Abode of Aman llah) is a three-story-tall palace located in Darulaman, which about south-west of the centre of Ka ...
). Veterans of the Soviet Union's
Alpha Group Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group (a popular English name), or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center (TsSN FSB) (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is an elite stand-alone sub-unit o ...
have stated that Operation Storm-333 was one of the most successful in the unit's history. Documents released following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in the 1990s revealed that the Soviet leadership believed Amin had secret contacts within the American embassy in Kabul and "was capable of reaching an agreement with the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
"; however, allegations of Amin colluding with the Americans have been widely discredited.


Background

The
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...
was initially led by
Nur Muhammad Taraki Nur Muhammad Taraki (; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secret ...
, who was pro-Soviet Union, which resulted in cordial Afghan–Soviet relations. In September 1979, Taraki was deposed by Hafizullah Amin, due to intra-
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
strife. After this event and the suspicious death of Taraki (an apparent
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
by Amin's orders), Afghan–Soviet relations started to deteriorate; by December the Soviet leadership had established an alliance with Babrak Karmal. The Soviet Union declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan on 12 December 1979, and the Soviet leadership initiated Operation Storm-333 (the first phase of the intervention) on 27 December 1979.


Soviet forces

Storm-333 was part of a bigger operation, Baikal-79, aimed at taking control over approximately 20 key strongholds in and around Kabul, which included major military headquarters, communication centers and jails.Dmitri Volin (25 December 2019
Участник штурма дворца Амина: мы шли под прямой автоматный огонь
tass.ru.
The core of Storm-333 assault team included 25 men from the Гром (''Grom'' – "Thunder") unit of
Alpha Group Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group (a popular English name), or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center (TsSN FSB) (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is an elite stand-alone sub-unit o ...
, and 30 operators from a special
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
group Зенит (''Zenit'' – "Zenith"), later known as
Vympel Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russian ...
and Гром (''Grom'' - "Thunder"). There were also 87 troops of a
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
of the
345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment The 345th Guards Airborne Regiment (345th PPD) of the Soviet Airborne Forces, and after 1992, the Russian Airborne Forces, was active from 1944 to 1998. History It was formed on 30 December 1944 at Lapichi, Osipovichi district, Mogilev Oblast, ...
. 520 men from the 154th Separate
Spetsnaz Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...
Detachment of the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
Ministry of Defence known as the "
Muslim Battalion Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
" because it consisted exclusively of soldiers from the southern republics of the USSR. This motorized rifle battalion had been formed in the USSR earlier in 1979 at the specific request of the Afghan leader to guard his residence as he could not rely on Afghan troops. These support troops were not issued armor or helmets, but one of them recalls that a magazine tucked inside his clothes protected him from an SMG bullet. The teams were assisted by
Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy Major General Sayed Muhammad Gulabzoi (born 1951) is an Afghan politician. An ethnic Pashtun from the Zadran tribe, Gulabzoi was born in Paktia Province. An Air Force mechanic by training, he studied at the Air Force college. As an air force offic ...
in leading it to Tajbeg Palace.


Palace assault and death of Amin

The raid on the
Tajbeg Palace Tajbeg Palace ( ps, د تاج بېګ ماڼۍ; fa, قصر تاج بيگ; ''Palace of the Large Crown''), also inaccurately called the Queen's Palace, is one of the palaces in the popular Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. The stately mansion is ...
, where General Secretary Amin was in residence with his family at the suggestion of his KGB security advisers, took place around 7 p.m. on 27 December 1979. The Tajbeg Palace was guarded by the
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
. During the attack, Amin still believed the Soviet Union was on his side, and told his adjutant, "The Soviets will help us." The adjutant replied that it was the Soviets who were attacking them; Amin initially replied that this was a lie. Only after he tried but failed to contact the Chief of the General Staff, he muttered, "I guessed it. It's all true." He was captured alive by Grom troops, but semi-conscious, suffering convulsions due to interrupted medical treatment related to a poisoning that occurred on December 16 of the same year. The exact details of his later death have never been confirmed by any eye witness. The official announcement of his death on Kabul Radio, as reported by the ''New York Times'' on 27 December 1979, was "Amin had been sentenced to death at a revolutionary trial for crimes against the state and that sentence had been carried out". One story at the time was Amin was killed by
Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy Major General Sayed Muhammad Gulabzoi (born 1951) is an Afghan politician. An ethnic Pashtun from the Zadran tribe, Gulabzoi was born in Paktia Province. An Air Force mechanic by training, he studied at the Air Force college. As an air force offic ...
, a previous Minister of Communication until ousted by Amin, who was present with two other previous ministers during the assault to give credence it was an Afghan-controlled operation. Gulabzoy and
Mohammad Aslam Watanjar Mohammad Aslam Watanjar ( ps, محمداسلم وطنجار, 1946 – November 2000) was an Afghan general and politician. He played a significant role in the coup in 1978 that killed the Afghan president Mohammad Daud Khan and started the "Saur Re ...
, the previous Minister for Defense, later confirmed his death. This story of his death after a summary trial is supported by the fate of Amin supporters who were executed on the spot with a bullet in the back of the neck, after a 'Revolutionary Troika' arrested and sentenced them to death. Amin's son were fatally wounded and died shortly after. Amin's daughter was wounded, but survived. 348 other Afghans, including 30 of Amin's most personal guards from Palace and Leader's guards, also died in the fighting, and part of the palace went up in flames. 150 of the 180 Palace and Leader's guards, who were regular troops, surrendered when they realized the attacking troops were from the USSR, not from an Afghan unit. A total of 1,700 Afghan soldiers surrendered to Soviet troops and were taken prisoner. The whole operation took about 40 minutes.


Soviet losses

During the assault on the Tajbeg 5 officers of the KGB special forces, 7 troops from the "Muslim Battalion", and 2 paratroopers were killed. The commander of the KGB contingent, Col. Boyarinov, was killed. All the surviving participants in the KGB troops in the operation were wounded. Also, Soviet army doctor Colonel Viktor Kuznechenkov, who was treating General Secretary Amin, was killed by friendly fire in the palace and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.Peter Tomsen (9 June 2011). Wars of Afghanistan (1st ed.). PublicAffairs. p. 174. .


Memoirs of the participants

According to Oleg Balashov, who was second in command of the assault group, the group was led by two elite units of Alpha and Vympel (15–20 each). The Alpha group targeted Amin, and the Vympel group had the task of collecting factual evidence that Amin was collaborating with the United States. Both groups were brought to Afghanistan secretly and blended with Muslim Battalions to make an impression that the operation was carried out by local units, whereas in reality nearly all work was done by Alpha and Vympel. Before the operation, Balashov surveyed the area under the guise of a bodyguard of a Soviet diplomat. His unit knew that they were going to a death zone and felt uncomfortable about it – about 80% of them were wounded shortly after they left their vehicles, yet they continued the assault. As Balashov expected, Amin's troops targeted the first and last vehicle in the convoy of six. He placed his team of five men in the front BMP and, when the BMP was immobilized by fire from Amin's troops, ordered them to abandon the BMP and run to the palace. All five were quickly wounded by intensive fire from the guards, but were saved by bulletproof vests and helmets.Interview with Colonel Oleg Balashov
BBC (in Russian)
This account generally agrees with that of Aleksandr Lyakhovskiy, Soviet war historian and former director of the USSR Defense Ministry in Afghanistan, who gives more details and accentuates the ferocity and professionalism on both the attacking and defending sides.A. A. Lyakhovski

orc.ru. This page refers to Alpha and Vympel by their previous names Grom and Zenith, respectively


References


Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Storm-333, Operation Conflicts in 1979 Airborne operations Battles involving Afghanistan Battles of the Soviet–Afghan War Russian special forces operations KGB operations 1979 in the Soviet Union 1979 in Afghanistan Afghanistan–Soviet Union relations 20th century in Kabul Military assassinations December 1979 events in Asia 1970s coups d'état and coup attempts