Faiz Muhammad (1939-11 September 1980) was a prominent Afghan statesman and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, being a former ambassador to Indonesia and Iraq. He was also head of the Operation Department of the 444th Commando Battalion, Minister of the Interior of Afghanistan and Minister of Border Affairs of Afghanistan.
Early life
Faiz Muhammad was born in a Pashtun family, belonging to the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan while it was still under the rule of the British Raj in 1939. He would remain there with his family, seeing the fall of the British Raj and the birth of the Republic of Pakistan. Shortly after, he and his family moved to Kingdom of Afghanistan in the early 1950s where they’d resume their lives as normal in the city of Kabul. Graduating from Afghan military institutions became a trend in Faiz's young adulthood, as a decade later, in 1961, he graduated from the Kabul Military Lyceum of Khushal Khan and in 1964, he graduated from the Infantry Faculty of the Kabul Military Academy.
Details about his time in the Afghan Army as enlisted personnel is unknown, but upon graduating in 1964, he was already a lieutenant. In the span of five years, he made his way up the ranks and was promoted to captain, previously being a Senior Lieutenant in 1966. Faiz would spend two years in a special training course for airborne officers in the Soviet Union, from 1969 to 1970. As a result of all the knowledge he gained from being under the tutelage of officers in the Soviet Airborne Forces, he was eligible to hold the post of head of the Operation Department of one of the elite 444th Commando Paratrooper Battalion. Simultaneously with his service in the army, he was also a member of a secret armed group known as the Revolutionary Democratic Organization, linked to the Parcham faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.
Career during the Republic of Afghanistan
Faiz Muhammad was involved in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état that would bring Mohammad Daoud Khan to power, storming the royal palace (Arg Residential Palace) along with other commandos of the 444th Battalion such as General Khushal Peroz. For leading the commando battalion during the coup into the Arg, Faiz was promoted to Major and a year later, he became a Lieutenant Colonel after passing the rank of Senior Captain.
Ever since July 17, 1973, he was a member of the country's highest authority – the Central Committee of the Republic of Afghanistan headed by President Daoud. At the same time, he also served as the Minister of Interior, overseeing an investigation into military personnel accused of being involved in the death of Prime Minister Mohammed Hashim Maiwandwal. According to the official report, Maiwandwal committed suicide while being imprisoned although it was widely believed he was tortured to death by Parchamites who had control of the Ministry of Interior as he was a staunch anti-leftist, therefore a threat to the PDPA. In December 1973, Faiz's investigation would lead to those accused being given long term prison sentences with some being sentenced to death.
After Maiwandwal's death, Daoud began removing leftists from his cabinet, worsening of relations between left-wing officers and Daoud Khan, as well as the National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan. This led to Faiz being moved to a politically less significant post of Minister of the Borders in 1975, convening in relations with the Pashtun tribes as a Pashtun himself. In 1977, he was appointed as the Afghan ambassador to Indonesia.
Career during the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The worsening relations between leftists and republicans ultimately resulted in the Saur Revolution where communist military officers overthrew the autocratic government of Daoud Khan and established the Marxist–Leninist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1978. In contrast to Faiz gaining various new positions after the 1973 Republican coup d’état, the Khalq government only appointed him as the Afghan ambassador to Iraq.