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Khadamat-e Etela'at-e Dawlati خدمات اطلاعات دولتی (English: "State Information Agency"), almost always known by its acronym KHAD (or KhAD), was the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan's secret police. Successor to AGSA and KAM, KHAD was nominally part of the Afghan state, but it was firmly under the control of the Soviet KGB.

After the December 1979 Soviet invasion, KAM was renamed and came under the control of the KGB. This was an agency specifically created for the suppression of the Democratic Republic's internal opponents.

Contents 1 Directors of KHAD and its predecessors 2 Organization 3 Political factions 4 Involvement in the civil war 5 Human rights

No.	Organization	Director	Took office	Left office	Political party
01	AGSA	Hafizullah Amin	April 1978	September 1979	PDPA - Khalq
02	KAM	Asadullah Amin	September 1979	December 1979	PDPA - Khalq
03	KhAD	Mohammad Najibullah	January 1980	May 1986	PDPA - Parcham
03	KhAD - WAD	Ghulam Faruq Yakubi	May 1986	April 1992	PDPA - Parcham

Little is known of its internal organization, but KHAD's system of informers and operatives extended into virtually every aspect of Afghan life, especially in the government-controlled urban areas. Aside from its secret police work, KHAD supervised ideological education at schools and colleges, ran a special school for war orphans, and recruited young men for the militia.

Its importance to Moscow was reflected in the fact that it was chiefly responsible for the training of a new generation of Afghans who could be loyal to the Soviet Union. Another important area was work with tribes and ethnic minorities. KHAD collaborated with the Ministry of Nationalities and Tribal Affairs to foster support for the regime in the countryside. KHAD also directed its attention to Afghanistan's Hindu and Sikh religious minorities

KHAD was also responsible for co-opting religious leaders. It funded an official body known as the Religious Affairs Directorate and recruited pro-regime ulama and mosque attendants to spy on worshipers.

Some sources give 60 percent of the PDPA party membership as belonging to the armed forces, Sarandoy, or KHAD.

KHAD also had a political role that was clearly unintended by the Soviets. It was initially headed by Mohammad Najibullah, until he became President of Afghanistan in 1986. Najibullah and other high officials were Parchamis. As head of the KHAD apparatus, Najibullah was also extremely powerful.

Consequently, KHAD evolved into a Parchami stronghold, equally zealous in the suppression of enemies of the revolution. Thus, KHAD was zealous in suppressing Khalqis in the government and in the armed forces.

There was a bitter rivalry between Najibullah and Sayed Muhammad Gulabzoi. Gulabzoi, a Khalq sympathizer, was Minister of the Interior and commander of Sarandoy ("Defenders of the Revolution"), the national gendarmerie. Gulabzoi was one of the few prominent Khalqis remaining in office in a Parcham-dominated regime.

In late 1985, Najibullah was promoted to be a secretary on the PDPA Central Committee; in this capacity he may be able to exercise party authority over all security organs, including those attached to the Khalq-dominated defense and interior ministries. It was assumed to be a reward for the efficiency and ruthlessness of the secret police, which was in sharp contrast to the performance of the poorly trained and demoralized armed forces.

In the mid-1980s, KHAD enjoyed a formidable measure of autonomy in relation to other Afghan state institutions.

KHAD reportedly had some success in penetrating the leadership councils of several resistance groups, most of which were headquartered in Pakistan. By the mid-1980s KHAD had gained a fearsome reputation as the eyes, ears, and scourge of the regime. Its influence was pervasive and its methods lawless. KHAD's activities reached beyond the borders of Afghanistan to neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

On January 29, 1981 its headquarters in Kabul were attacked and destroyed by mujahideen troops.

After establishment of Karzai government in 2001, KHAD was reestablished and Gen. Arif of the Northern Alliance became its chief. KHAD was directly controlled by the defense minister Qasim Fahim. There are some complains that KHAD was used as a tool against opponents by the Northern Alliance.

KHAD was also accused of human rights abuses in the mid-1980s. These included the use of torture, the use of predetermined "show trials" to dispose of political prisoners, and widespread arbitrary arrest and detention. Secret trials and the execution of prisoners without trial were also common.

It was especially active and aggressive in the urban centers, especially in Kabul. Organizations such as Amnesty International continued to publish detailed reports of KHAD's use of torture and of inhumane conditions in the country's prisons and jails.

KHAD also operated eight detention centers in the capital, which were located at KHAD headquarters, at the Ministry of the Interior headquarters, and at a location known as the Central Interrogation Office.

List of External Intelligence Agencies of different countries

Australian Secret Intelligence Service • Bundesnachrichtendienst • Canadian Security Intelligence Service • CIA • External Assessments Bureau • Inter-Services Intelligence • KGB • KHAD • Ministry of Intelligence (Iran) • MİT (Turkey) • Mossad • National Intelligence Coordinating Agency • NKVD • Research and Analysis Wing • Secret Intelligence Service • SHISH • Sigurimi • South African Secret Service • Urząd Ochrony Państwa