Operation Storm-333
At around 7 p.m. on the 27th of December 1979, Operation Storm-333 began. Soviet special forces and airborne troops stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul, where Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin had been staying with his family. The palace sat on a high and steep hill, surrounded by landmines, and guarded by large Afghan Army contingents. The whole assault would last about 40 minutes.
Amin had moved to the Tajbeg Palace at the suggestion of his own KGB security advisers. What began that night opened the Soviet-Afghan War, and what came before raises a question Soviet archives spent years trying to settle: was Amin the man the Kremlin thought he was?
In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin deposed Nur Muhammad Taraki, the pro-Soviet founder of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Taraki's death followed shortly after, and Soviet records attributed it to Amin's orders. The two men had shared leadership of the PDPA through the Saur Revolution of April 1978, but their alliance collapsed into fatal rivalry.
The KGB branded Amin with a striking phrase after the takeover: 'a smooth-talking fascist who was secretly pro-western.' Afghan-Soviet relations, which had been strong under Taraki, deteriorated through the autumn of 1979.
On the 12th of December 1979, the Soviet leadership formally declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan. After the Soviet Union's dissolution, documents from the 1990s showed that the leadership had believed Amin maintained secret contacts with the American embassy in Kabul. They feared he was capable of reaching an agreement with the United States. Those same archives revealed that the story of Amin as a CIA agent had been planted by the KGB itself.
Babrak Karmal, leader of the PDPA's Parcham faction, was Moscow's chosen replacement. As Soviet troops crossed the Amu Darya and entered Afghanistan by land, aircraft transported exiled Parchamis to airbases across the country. Karmal would take power only once the Tajbeg Palace had fallen.
The 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment had an unusual distinction. Nicknamed the 'Muslim Battalion,' it consisted exclusively of soldiers from the southern republics of the USSR. Amin himself had requested its formation in 1979 to guard his residence, since he could not rely on Afghan troops. Its 520 men would form the main assault force.
Twenty-five men from Grom, the assault element of Alpha Group, led the operation's strike against Amin. Thirty operators from Zenit, a special KGB unit later known as Vympel, were assigned a distinct task. They were to collect evidence of Amin's supposed collusion with the United States. Another 87 troops from the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment provided additional firepower.
Oleg Balashov, second in command of the assault group, had scouted the Tajbeg area beforehand while posing as the bodyguard of a Soviet diplomat. His men understood they were heading into a death zone; about 80 percent of them were wounded shortly after dismounting from their vehicles. Amin's guards concentrated fire on the first and last vehicles in the Soviet convoy of six.
Balashov placed his five-man team in the lead armored personnel carrier. When it was immobilized by fire, he ordered his men to abandon it and run toward the palace. All five were quickly hit by the guards' fire, but bulletproof vests and helmets kept them in the fight.
After failing to reach the Chief of the General Staff by phone, Amin reportedly muttered, 'I guessed it. It's all true.' Grom troops had already captured him alive; he was semi-conscious and suffering convulsions. A poisoning on the 16th of December had left his medical treatment unfinished, and the assault interrupted it entirely.
On the 27th of December 1979, Kabul Radio made an announcement that the New York Times reported the same evening. The broadcast stated that Amin had been sentenced to death at a revolutionary trial for crimes against the state. The sentence, it declared, had been carried out. The exact circumstances of his death were never confirmed by any eyewitness. A story at the time held that Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy, a former Minister of Communication whom Amin had ousted, killed him personally. Gulabzoy and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, the former Minister for Defense, later both confirmed Amin's death.
Gulabzoy and Watanjar had been brought to the palace with a political purpose. Their presence, along with a third former minister, was designed to make the operation appear Afghan-controlled. Soviet units carried out almost all the fighting. Supporters of Amin were executed on the spot following summary judgments by a 'Revolutionary Troika.' Each was shot with a bullet in the back of the neck.
Amin's two sons, aged 11 and 9, died from shrapnel wounds during the fighting. His wife and daughter were both wounded but survived. The wife of Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Wali, born in 1939, was also killed in the operation. Of the 180 palace and leader's guards on duty, 150 surrendered once they recognized the attacking force as Soviet rather than Afghan.
It was not until 2009 that researchers established the specific cause of Amin's mortal wound. Senior Lieutenant Alexander Nikolaevich Plyusnin, born in 1949, had thrown the grenade fragment that struck him. Plyusnin died in 2022.
Colonel Boyarinov, the commanding officer of the KGB contingent at Tajbeg, was killed in the assault. Five KGB special forces officers died in total, along with seven troops from the Muslim Battalion and two paratroopers. Every KGB operative who survived came out of the operation wounded.
Soviet army doctor Colonel Viktor Kuznechenkov had been inside the palace treating General Secretary Amin when friendly fire struck and killed him. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
A total of 1,700 Afghan soldiers surrendered to Soviet forces and were taken prisoner across the operation. Storm-333 was the opening phase of Operation Baikal-79, a broader Soviet mission targeting Kabul. That operation aimed to seize approximately 20 key positions, including major military headquarters, communication centers, and jails.
Veterans of Alpha Group later described Operation Storm-333 as one of the most successful in the unit's history. Aleksandr Lyakhovskiy, a Soviet war historian and former director of the USSR Defense Ministry in Afghanistan, provided the most detailed account of the events. His conclusion emphasized that both the attackers and the defenders had fought with equal ferocity and professionalism.
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Common questions
What was Operation Storm-333?
Operation Storm-333 was a Soviet military raid carried out on the 27th of December 1979. Soviet special forces and airborne troops stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinated Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin. The operation marked the start of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Why did the Soviet Union launch Operation Storm-333 to assassinate Hafizullah Amin?
The Soviet leadership decided to remove Amin after he deposed and apparently ordered the assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki, the pro-Soviet Afghan leader, in September 1979. The KGB characterized Amin as 'a smooth-talking fascist who was secretly pro-western.' Soviet leaders also believed, incorrectly, that Amin had contacts with the American embassy in Kabul.
How long did Operation Storm-333 take?
Operation Storm-333 lasted approximately 40 minutes. During that time, 347 Afghans were killed and every KGB participant who survived the assault was wounded.
Who replaced Hafizullah Amin after Operation Storm-333?
Babrak Karmal, leader of the PDPA's Parcham faction, was installed as Afghanistan's new leader following Operation Storm-333. The Soviets had established an alliance with Karmal before the operation and transported exiled Parcham members to Afghan airbases in preparation for his return to power.
What Soviet forces were involved in Operation Storm-333?
The Soviet assault force included 25 men from Grom (Alpha Group), 30 operators from Zenit (later known as Vympel), and 87 paratroopers from the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment. It was also supported by 520 men from the 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment, known as the Muslim Battalion, which had been formed at Amin's personal request.
What were Soviet casualties in Operation Storm-333?
Soviet forces lost Colonel Boyarinov, the KGB contingent commander, along with five KGB special forces officers, seven troops from the Muslim Battalion, and two paratroopers. Every KGB operative who survived the operation was wounded. Soviet army doctor Colonel Viktor Kuznechenkov was also killed by friendly fire and posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
All sources
20 references cited across the entry
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- 2BookWars of AfghanistanPeter Tomsen — PublicAffairs — 9 June 2011
- 3BookThe Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great PowersPeter Tomsen — PublicAffairs — 9 June 2011
- 4BookModern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and SurvivalAmin Saikal — I.B. Tauris — 2004
- 5The Take-Down of Kabul: An Effective Coup de MainLester W. Grau
- 7BookFamous Assassinations in World History: An EncyclopediaMichael Newton — ABC-CLIO — 17 April 2014
- 8BookRussia, America and the Cold War: 1949–1991Martin McCauley — Pearson Education — 2008
- 9How Soviet troops stormed Kabul palaceBBC — 27 December 2009
- 10BookGhost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to 10 September 2001Steve Coll — Penguin Group — 2004
- 11BookBecoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988James G. Blight — Rowman & Littlefield Publishers — 2012
- 12BookIn the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in AfghanistanSeth G. Jones — W. W. Norton & Company — 2010
- 13JournalUnited States-Afghanistan Diplomatic Relations, September-December 1979: Hafizullah Amin's Struggle For SurvivalShaista Wahab — 1993-12-01
- 14BookAfghanistan: A Modern HistoryAngelo Rasanayagam — I.B.Tauris — 2005
- 15BookBoots on the Ground: The Fight to Liberate Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, 2001–2002Camp, Dick — Zenith Imprint — 2012
- 20Inside the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the Seizure of Kabul, December 1979Aleksandr Lyakhovskiy — Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars — January 2007