Tajbeg Palace in the context of "Hafizullah Amin"

Operation Baikal-79 (Russian: Операция Байкал-79, Operatsiya Baykal-79) was the codename for the Soviet Union's military intervention in Afghanistan, initiated on December 25, 1979. The operation was aimed at taking control over approximately 20 key strongholds in and around Kabul, which included major military headquarters, communication centers and jails. It involved the deployment of approximately 30,000 Soviet troops into Afghanistan. A critical component of Operation Baikal-79 was Operation Storm-333, executed on 27 December 1979. This mission targeted the assassination of Afghan president Hafizullah Amin and the establishment of a Soviet-aligned government under Babrak Karmal. The assault on the Tajbeg Palace, Amin's residence, was carried out by a specialized force comprising KGB operatives and Soviet military personnel. The operation resulted in Amin's death and the installation of Karmal as the new leader.

Operation Storm-333 (Russian: Шторм-333, Shtorm-333) was a military raid executed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan on 27 December 1979. Special forces and airborne troops stormed the heavily fortified Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinated Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin, a Khalqist of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who had taken power in the Saur Revolution of April 1978. It was the start of the Soviet–Afghan War.

The assassination of Amin was part of a larger Soviet plan to secure and take control of Afghanistan with support from the PDPA's Parcham faction, which opposed the hardline ideology espoused by the rival Khalq faction; a number of Soviet troops crossed the Amu Darya and entered Afghanistan by land while others flew to airbases around the country with exiled Parchamis in preparation for the assassination. The Tajbeg Palace, located on a high and steep hill in Kabul, was surrounded by landmines and guarded by extraordinarily large contingents of the Afghan Army. Nonetheless, Afghan forces suffered major losses during the Soviet operation; 30 Afghan palace guards and over 300 army guards were killed while another 150 were captured. Two of Amin's sons, an 11-year-old and a 9-year-old, died from shrapnel wounds sustained during the clashes. In the aftermath of the operation, a total of 1,700 Afghan soldiers who surrendered to Soviet forces were taken prisoner, and the Soviets installed Babrak Karmal, the leader of the PDPA's Parcham faction, as Amin's successor.