The Sarandoy (; also spelled Tsarandoi from ) were the

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

force of the Soviet-backed

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the Afghan state between History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), 1978 and 1992. It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the ...

under the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

from 1978 to 1992, during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

History

The Sarandoy, not to be confused with the Afghanistan Scout Association under the

Kingdom of Afghanistan The Kingdom of Afghanistan (; ) was a monarchy in Southern Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the ...

of the same name, were the successor of the former Afghan Regional Gendarmerie, raised in 1978 with an initial strength of 30,000–35,000 officers and enlisted men, intended to be used on internal security duties. The Sarandoy was initially established by President Mohammad Daoud Khan as a national gendarmerie force to support local police, before being reconfigured to an internal security force after the

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...

. The Soviet MVD Kobalt unit was responsible for providing training assistance to Sarandoy officers from 1980/1981. 5,000 Soviet advisors were brought to Afghanistan to assist in training. The unit was disbanded by 1992 after the collapse of the DRA and start of the Afghan Civil War (1992-1996) due to mass cases of desertion.

Lack of cooperation

The Sarandoy was subjected to internal politics of the ruling PDPA, as its forces were controlled by the ''

Khalq Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...

'' faction, opposed to the ''

Parcham Parcham (Pashto/ Dari: پرچم, ) was the more moderate socialist faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led by Afghan communist politician Babrak Karmal. It was later turned into the Watan (Homeland) Party with a mor ...

'' faction which controlled the

KhAD The ''Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati'' (Pashto/ literally "State Intelligence Agency", also known as "State Information Services" or "Committee of State Security"), better known by the acronym KhAD, was the agency in charge of internal security, ...

intelligence service. Accordingly, armed clashes occurred on occasion between the Sarandoy and the KHAD. In some instances, the Sarandoy's assets were mobilized against pro-Parcham factions.

Missions

The Sarandoy were tasked to provide support for Soviet and Afghan forces during anti-guerrilla operations. They were also tasked to arrest any deserters and ensure conscription compliance. The unit was tasked to investigate and join in operations to arrest anyone deemed to enemies of the government. From 1985, the Sarandoy were tasked to protect economic assets such as oil fields and gas pipelines. When the Soviets started to leave Afghanistan, they were used to provide security during humanitarian missions and were seen speaking to locals about the purpose of these missions. A Russian source mentioned that Sarandoy personnel moonlighted as bodyguards under orders from Gulabzoy. Additionally,

Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

personally led Arab Mujahideen fighters to fight against the Sarandoy’s 7th Operative Regiment, only to fail and take massive casualties.

Organization

Placed under the control of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Sarandoy was commanded by the Minister of Interior General Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy, a former Afghan Air Force officer. At one point, the Sarandoy fielded some 115,000 men, compared to the

Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...

's 160,000, while at other times the Sarandoy were said to exceed the Army. The unit grew its size in respond to the rise of the mujahideen insurgency. Those who served in the Sarandoy were paid 162 dollars a month, a wage which was higher than that of Deputy Minister of National Defence before the April 1978

and some of them would prove effective fighters, although many were little more than thugs. Mark Urban wrote in 1988 that '...By 1985 there were 20 identified Sarandoy Operational Battalions and Mountain Battalions. They were attached to provincial Sarandoy commands and include armoured vehicles and light artillery. The Kabul Security Command controlled two mobile regiments (the 1st and 2nd)... A further four Sarandoy brigades/regiments have been identified in Badakhshan (24th Sarandoy Brigade),

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

, Baghlan and Parwan. At the beginning of 1986, operational control of some units passed to the new unified Ministry of State Security. A number of previously Sarandoy units were eventually upgraded to Afghan Army formations, as part of the regularization of the militia. While the Sarandoy were reported to be effective in fighting the mujahideen, Soviet military personnel reported concerns that they were likely to be infiltrated by mujahideen groups. In turn, this forced them to limit sharing information they had with Sarandoy officers.

Training

Some prospective Sarandoy personnel were chosen to be trained in the USSR. 12,000 of these Sarandoy personnel were trained at MVD facilities in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

between 1978 and 1986, many of them being junior commanders and NCOs (

non-commissioned officers A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

). 2,500 of these Sarandoy personnel would be trained in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, the capital of

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Communist ...

for past excellence in combat.

References

Bibliography

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