Soviet–Afghan War French and Italian-made weapons, though the vast majority still came from the Soviet Union, its Warsaw Pact allies, and China. King Mohammed Zahir Shah ascended to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. Zahir's cousin, Mohammad Daoud Khan, served as Prime Minister from 1954 to 1963. The Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan's (PDPA's) strength grew considerably in these years. In 1967, the PDPA split into two rival factions, the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and the Parcham (Flag) faction led by Babrak Karmal. Former Prime Minister Daoud seized power in a military
Saad Akbar Babrak not widely known. It is stated in the official file on Liaquat Ali Khan that Akbar was an "Afghan national and a professional assassin." Saad Akbar Babrak Said Akbar Khan Babrakzai (died 16 October 1951) was possibly an Afghan Pashtun, according to the government sources, and an ultra-Pashtun nationalist, an assassin who assassinated the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaqat Ali Khan, in Rawalpindi Punjab Province, on October 16, 1951. On October 16, 1951, during a public meeting, Sayed Akbar Khan shot Liaqat twice in a park in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The assassin was fatally shot by police officers seconds later.