1973 Afghan coup d'état

1973 Afghan coup d'état
	; Minister of Defense General Rasuli performing Attan with Afghan officers on the first anniversary of the coup
Date	17 July 1973
Location	Kabul, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Result	Coup attempt succeeds virtually bloodless;
Belligerents
Republican officers; PDPA	Kingdom of Afghanistan
Commanders and leaders
Mohammad Daoud Khan; Abdul Karim Mustaghni; Faiz Mohammed; Abdul Qadir	None
Units involved
Royal Afghan Army Royal Guard Brigade; 4th Tank Brigade; 15th Tank Brigade; 717th Civil Disciplinary Unit; 88th Heavy Artillery Regiment; Afghan Commando Forces 444th Commando Battalion; ; ; Royal Afghan Air Force	Royal Afghan Army Royal Guard Brigade; 7th Infantry Division; 8th Infantry Division; ; Afghan Regional Gendarmerie
Strength
	2200 military personnel
Casualties and losses
1 tank destroyed, 4 soldiers killed	7 policemen killed

The 1973 Afghan coup d'état, also called by Afghans as the Coup of 26 Saratan (Dari: کودتای ۲۶ سرطان) and self-proclaimed as the Revolution of 26 Saratan 1352, was led by Army General and prince Mohammad Daoud Khan against his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, on 17 July 1973, which resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan under a one-party system led by Daoud Khan.

For the coup, Daoud Khan led forces in Kabul along with then-chief of staff General Abdul Karim Mustaghni, to overthrow the monarchy while the King was convalescing abroad in Ischia, Italy. Daoud Khan was assisted by army officers and civil servants from the Parcham faction of the PDPA, including Air Force colonel Abdul Qadir. Daoud also had the support of air force personnel stationed in Kabul International Airport and Bagram Air Base, led by Lieutenant Abdul Hamed Muhtaat and Lieutenant Pachagul Wadafar, although the flying of military aircraft over the city was not called upon. Seven loyalist police officers and one tank commander, as well as three members of his tank crew, were killed in what was described at the time by staff from the United States National Security Council as a "well planned and swiftly executed coup".

King Zahir Shah decided not to retaliate and he formally abdicated on August 24, remaining in Italy in exile. More than two centuries of royal rule (since the founding of the Durrani Empire in 1747) ended with the coup. Five years later Daoud Khan would himself be overthrown and executed in the Saur Revolution.

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