Mir Akbar Khyber

Mir Akbar Khyber[a][b] (January 11, 1925[1] – April 17, 1978) was an Afghan left-wing intellectual and a leader of the Parcham faction of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).

The Daoud regime attempted to blame Khyber's death on Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami,[4] but Nur Mohammad Taraki of the PDPA held the government responsible, a belief that was shared by much of the Kabul intelligentsia.

[4] However, several sources, including fellow Parchamites Babrak Karmal and Anahita Ratebzad, claimed that Hafizullah Amin, a leader of the rival Khalq faction, was the instigator of the assassination.

[2] Daoud's confidant, Abdul Samad Ghaus, suggested that a strong rivalry existed between Amin and Khyber as they both attempted to infiltrate the military for their respective factions.

[6] At Khyber's funeral on April 19, some 15,000 PDPA sympathizers gathered in Kabul, and paraded through the streets chanting slogans against the CIA and the SAVAK, the Shah of Iran's secret police.

Nur Muhammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal standing at the location Khyber was assassinated in Kabul.
Communist PDPA members at the funeral of Khyber in Kabul, front row left to right: Anahita Ratebzad , Dr. Shah Wali, Sulaiman Layeq , Babrak Karmal , Nur Muhammad Taraki and Mohammad Najibullah .