The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

explosions in the night sky. Only after an hour or two did the intensity of the shooting beginto subside.***A new day, April 28, 1978 arrived. With the first rays of the sun, when the muezzinsinvited Muslims to morning prayer from the minarets, the president gathered hissupporters and the officers of his personal guard around him. He informed the commanderof the Guard: “I have made my choice and I do not plan to compromise. You are young, andshould think about how to save your lives.” He spoke in a tone that precluded thepossibility of objection. He then ordered Sahib Jan to relay his order to the rest of theguards. “Put down your arms to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”Shortly after the president’s guards left, a group of soldiers, headed by a shortofficer who seemed devoid of confidence, entered the room where Daoud remained alongwith his wife, children, grandchildren, and a few others.The officer straightened himself in front of Daoud, saluted, and introduced himselfas “Captain Imamuddin.”Daoud silently looked at the officer from his armchair on a large burgundy carpet.His wife sat beside him, also in an armchair. She lovingly attended to her grandchildren,who were sitting on the carpet and looking at picture books. Near the entrance, closer tothe winter garden, the Vice-Premier and the Minister of Finance Abdul Illah sat on a chair.He was obviously nervous. To Daoud’s right, by the entrance, near a stone wall thatseparated the flower beds filled with blooming roses, was Minister of Internal Affairs QadirNuristani. He kept reaching under his jacket, feeling the reassuring handle of his Walthersidearm in an open holster.86