Mohammad Rafi, a former Afghan defense minister and senior official in the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, died on Sunday in Germany at the age of 79 after a long illness, family members confirmed.
Rafi served two terms as defense minister, first from 1979 to 1984 and again from 1986 to 1988, during one of the most turbulent periods in Afghanistan’s modern history. He was also appointed as one of the vice presidents under President Mohammad Najibullah in 1988, amid efforts to stabilize the country following the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
Born in 1946 in the Paghman district of Kabul province, Rafi was educated at Habibia High School and later graduated from the Afghan Military Academy. He continued his military training in the former Soviet Union, becoming part of the generation of Afghan officers shaped by Cold War geopolitics.
Rafi played a role in the 1973 coup led by Mohammad Daoud Khan, which ended the monarchy and established Afghanistan’s first republic. He later rose to command the country’s Fourth Armored Division. Following the 1978 communist takeover known as the Saur Revolution, he was briefly appointed minister of public works, but was imprisoned months later under President Hafizullah Amin.
After the Soviet-backed government of Babrak Karmal came to power in 1979, Rafi was released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison and named minister of defense. A key figure in the Parcham faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), he remained loyal to the party throughout the 1980s.
As the Soviet Union withdrew and the Najibullah government struggled to maintain control, Rafi supported the policy of “national reconciliation” and efforts for an Afghan-led military defense.
Following the collapse of the government in 1992 and the rise of the mujahideen, Rafi left Afghanistan and eventually settled in Germany, where he lived in exile for the remainder of his life.
