Bala Hissar uprising

The Bala Hissar uprising was an insurrection that took place on August 5, 1979, at the historical fortress Bala Hissar in the southern edge of Kabul, Afghanistan. Insurgents, as well as rebellious Afghan Army officers infiltrated and occupied the fortress. They were met by ruthless air bombardment by the Khalq government's MiG aircraft and artillery tank attacks.

Bala Hissar uprising
Part of the 1979 uprisings in Afghanistan
Bala Hissar in 2010
Date August 5, 1979 Location Kabul, Afghanistan Result Uprising put down Rebels arrested, some executed
Belligerents
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Afghan Army Afghan Air Force Ministry of Interior AGSA	Afghanistan Mujahedin Freedom Fighters Front: ALO Army defectors
Commanders and leaders
Nur Muhammad Taraki Hafizullah Amin	Faiz Ahmad Mulavi Dawood
Units involved
4 battalions	444th Commando Battalion defectors 26th Airborne Regiment defectors 32 Motorized Infantry Regiment defectors
Casualties and losses
1,000 killed and injured	1,000 killed

The uprising was commanded by Faiz Ahmad of the Marxist (but anti-Khalq) Revolutionary Group of the Peoples of Afghanistan (RGPA) and engineered by the Afghanistan Mujahedin Freedom Fighters Front (AMFF), a united front of anti-government Maoist and moderate Islamist groups. It was planned to be the first in a string of insurrections at major army garrisons and bases, the objective being to deal a military and political blow to the ruling PDPA/Khalq government and pave the way for a military coup.

After the five hour battle, tens of Maoist cadres were killed or arrested, and the government swiftly took back control. Some RGPA central committee members like Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Dawod and others were executed in the Pul-e-Charkhi prison. Government loudspeaker trucks drove around Kabul announcing that the military action was retaliation of another international imperialist plot against the "people's regime".

Except from the Herat uprising, the Bala Hissar rebellion was the most significant of the many uprisings that took place throughout Afghanistan in 1979 before the start of the Soviet-Afghan War.