Mohammed Asif Safi of rising Communist movement, and specifically named Babrak Karmal as one of the members of this movement. Maiwandwal was killed by Parcham (Pashto: پرچم meaning "Banner" or "Flag") wing of the Communist movement (who controlled Interior Ministry) during his custody. General Asif Khan was deeply moved by the assassination of Maiwandwal, who was a prominent figure in Afghanistan’s history. In General Asif Khan’s personal diaries, he noted former Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal’s assassination as the beginning of Afghanistan's sad history. On April 19, 1978, PDPA leaders such as Nur Muhammad Taraki, Hafizullah Amin and Babrak Karmal, launched a bloody
1979 in Afghanistan one time estimated to number 140,000. Amin is overthrown and killed in a coup backed by Soviet troops. Viktor Karpukhin carries out the taking of the presidential palace, in which two Soviet soldiers are killed. Ex-deputy prime minister Karmal, who has been in exile in Czechoslovakia, is picked as Amin's successor. The Soviets have begun a massive military airlift into Kabul, and at least two motorized divisions have crossed the Soviet-Afghan border. Babrak Karmal, whose Parcham party spearheaded the coup against Daud but later lost power to the faction led by Taraki and Amin, is considered more pro-Soviet than Amin