:Sarandoy

The Sarandoy, not to be confused with the Afghanistan Scout Association under the Kingdom of Afghanistan 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.{{sfn|Isby|Volstad|1993|p=20}}{{sfn|O'Ballance|1993|p=88}}{{sfn|Galeotti|2021|p=19}} 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.{{Cite web |last=bloomsbury.com |title=Afghanistan at War |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/afghanistan-at-war-9781598847598/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20231207024219/https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/afghanistan-at-war-9781598847598/ |archive-date=2023-12-07 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Bloomsbury |language=en}}

The Soviet MVD Kobalt unit was responsible for providing training assistance to Sarandoy officers from 1980/1981.{{cite book |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG1078.pdf |title=Building Afghanistan's Security Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience |first=Olga |last=Oliker |date=2011 |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-5168-4}} 5,000 Soviet advisors were brought to Afghanistan to assist in training.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}}

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.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=410}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/april/games.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060610074414/www.defencejournal.com/2002/april/games.htm |archive-date=10 June 2006 |title=Afghanistan — not so great games}}

The Sarandoy was subjected to internal politics of the ruling PDPA,{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Johnson |title=A region in turmoil: South Asian conflicts since 1947 |url=https://archive.org/details/regioninturmoils0000john |url-access=registration |access-date=29 March 2011 |year=2005 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-257-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/regioninturmoils0000john/page/176 176]–}} as its forces were controlled by the Khalq faction, opposed to the Parcham faction which controlled the KhAD intelligence service. Accordingly, armed clashes occurred on occasion between the Sarandoy and the KHAD.{{cite book |first1=Shaista |last1=Wahab |first2=Barry |last2=Youngerman |title=A brief history of Afghanistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y20MTE0C9kwC&pg=PA166 |access-date=29 March 2011 |year=2007 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-5761-0 |pages=166– |via=Google Books}}

In some instances, the Sarandoy's assets were mobilized against pro-Parcham factions.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}}

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.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}}

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 personally led Arab Mujahideen fighters to fight against the Sarandoy’s 7th Operative Regiment, only to fail and take massive casualties.{{Cite book |last=Roy Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/howwemissedstory00gutm |title=How we missed the story |date=2008 |publisher=US Inst Peace Pr |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-60127-024-5}}

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.{{sfn|Urban|1988|p=46}}{{sfn|Urban|1988|p=182}} At one point, the Sarandoy fielded some 115,000 men, compared to the Afghan Army's 160,000,{{cite book |first1=Milt |last1=Bearden |first2=James |last2=Risen |title=The main enemy: the inside story of the CIA's final showdown with the KGB |url=https://archive.org/details/mainenemyinsides00bear |url-access=registration |access-date=29 March 2011 |date=6 May 2003 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-0-679-46309-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mainenemyinsides00bear/page/310 310]–}} 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.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}}

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 Saur Revolution and some of them would prove effective fighters, although many were little more than thugs.{{sfn|Galeotti|2021|p=19}}

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[d] 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, Baghlan and Parwan.{{sfn|Urban|1988|p=226}} 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,{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}} 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.

Some prospective Sarandoy personnel were chosen to be trained in the USSR.{{sfn|Landsford|2017|p=409}} 12,000 of these Sarandoy personnel were trained at MVD facilities in the Soviet Union between 1978 and 1986, many of them being junior commanders and NCOs (non-commissioned officers). 2,500 of these Sarandoy personnel would be trained in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic for past excellence in combat.{{Cite web |last=Oliker |first=Olga |date=2011 |title=Building Afghanistan’s Security Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG1078.pdf |website=RAND Corporation}}

{{portal|Afghanistan}}

• Afghan Local Police (ALP)
• Defense of the Revolution (DotR)
• A Region in Turmoil: South Asian Conflicts since 1947 by Rob Johnson
• Ministry of Interior Affairs (Afghanistan)

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=O'Ballance |first1=Edgar |title=Afghan Wars, Battles in a hostile land - 1839 to the present |date=1993 |publisher=Brassey's |isbn=1-85753-308-9 |location=UK}}
• {{cite book |last1=Isby |first1=David |last2=Volstad |first2=Ron |title=Russia's War in Afghanistan |date=1993 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=0-85045-691-6 |location=UK}}
• {{cite book |last1=Galeotti |first1=Mark |title=Storm‑333: KGB and Spetsnaz seize Kabul, Soviet–Afghan War 1979 |date=2021 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=9781472841872 |location=UK}}
• {{cite book |last1=Landsford |first1=Tom |title=Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century |date=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781598847598 |location=USA}}
• {{cite book |last1=Urban |first1=Mark |author-link=Mark Urban |title=War in Afghanistan |date=1988 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0333432648 |location=UK}}

• {{cite book |last1=Guest |first1=Ken |title=Flashpoint! At the Front Line of Today's Wars |date=1994 |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |isbn=1-85409-247-2 |location=UK}}
• {{cite book |last1=Zaloga |first1=Steven J. |last2=Lucznak |first2=Wojciech |last3=Beldam |first3=Barry |title=Armor of the Afghanistan War |date=1992 |publisher=Concord Publications |isbn=978-0333432648 |location=Hong Kong}}

Category:1980s in Afghanistan

Category:Non-military counterinsurgency organizations

Category:Paramilitary organisations based in Afghanistan

Category:Collaborators with the Soviet Union

Category:Government paramilitary forces

Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Category:Indigenous counterinsurgency forces

Category:Military units and formations established in 1978

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1992