Shahnawaz Tanai
| Shahnawaz Tanai | |
|---|---|
| Chief of the Army Staff | |
|
In office 1986 – March, 1990 |
|
| Preceded by | Nazar Mohammed |
| Succeeded by | Mohammed Asif Delawar |
| Minister of Defense | |
|
In office May 1988 – March, 1990 |
|
| Preceded by | Mohammed Rafie |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Aslam Watanjar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1950 (age 66–67) Khost Province, Afghanistan |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan |
Lieutenant General Shahnawaz Tanai is a former communist general. He was chief of Afghanistan's army under the Republic of Afghanistan. His military positions included Commander of Artillery, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the KHAD Intelligence Network and then Minister of Defense during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
A pillar of the Communist Regime, Tanai later attempted a coup against his former friend and President Mohammad Najibullah, seeking refuge in a hostile Pakistan and working with fundamentalists such as Gulbadin Hekmatyar.
He was a member of the Khalq faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and leader of at least the majority of the Khalqi faction since its former leader Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy was exiled as Ambassador to Moscow as part of the political preparation of the Soviet pullout, in September 1988.
Born in 1950 in the village of Dargai in the southern province of Khost. Tanai followed a classic military career, attending first the military academy and then university, specialising in infantry tactics. He later traveled to the Soviet Union to study leadership.
After the 1978 coup in which President Mohammed Daoud Khan was ousted and killed, Tanai was appointed head of Military Intelligence. He survived through the years of coups and bloodshed that followed during the Saur Revolution. His first appointment was of Commander of the Kabul garrison.
When Mohammad Hasan Sharq was selected by President Najibullah as the new Prime Minister, the position of Minister of Defense remained open for some time, but was finally awarded to General Tanai. Tanai himself was recognized as a hawk and a sworn enemy of the Mujahideen. He even urged targeting SCUD missiles at Islamabad. He sought a military solution, as opposed to the party's policy of national reconciliation.
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Wikipedia