Abstract
This article concerns the Soviet military's use of soldiers of Afghan ethnicities (Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, and others) during its war in Afghanistan, both as spetsnaz and more generally in the 40th army. Special Forces Detachment 154 and Special Forces Detachment 177, the first and second ‘Muslim Battalions,’ would play important roles not only during the palace takeover in December 1979 but also during the 1983 cease-fire in Panjshir. This article challenges earlier views that Soviet Muslims and Central Asians were unreliable soldiers who colluded with mujahedin, and points to a more balanced perspective of their role in Afghanistan.
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