Ten years later, in 1973, Mohammed Daoud Khan supported by Soviet-trained Afghan army officers seized power from the King in a bloodless coup, and established the first Afghan republic. Following his return to power, Daoud revived his Pashtunistan policy and for the first time started proxy warring against Pakistan by supporting anti-Pakistani groups and providing them with arms, training and sanctuaries. The Pakistani government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was alarmed by this. The Soviet Union also supported Daoud Khan militancy against Pakistan as they wanted to weaken Pakistan, which was an ally of both the United States and China. However, it did not openly try to create problems for Pakistan as that would damage the Soviet Union relations with other Islamic countries, hence, it relied on Daoud Khan to weaken Pakistan. They had the same thought regarding Iran, another major U.S. ally. Soviet Union also believed that the hostile behaviour of Afghanistan against Pakistan and Iran could alienate Afghanistan from the west, and Afghanistan would be forced into a closer relationship with Soviet Union. The pro-Soviet Afghans (like those from the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)) also supported Daoud Khan hostility towards Pakistan, as they believed that a conflict with Pakistan would promote Afghanistan to seek aid from Soviet Union. As a result, the pro-Soviet Afghans would be able to establish their influence over Afghanistan.