Politburo. Decision to dispatch special detachment to Afghanistan on recommendation (4 December 1979, No 312/2/073) of KGB and General Staff. [Russian: 6 December 1979, Pb 176-82] total 2 pp.

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[page one of two]

Return to CPSU Central Committee
(General Department, Sector) within 3 days

Workers of all Lands, Unite!

COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION. CENTRAL COMMITTEE

TOP SECRET;
SPECIAL FILE

No. Pb 176/82

To Comrades:

Brezhnev, Andropov, Gromyko, Suslov,
Ustinov

Excerpt from Minutes No. 176 of the meeting of the Politburo
of the CPSU Central Committee, held on 6 December 1979

Sending a special detachment to Afghanistan

Agree with the proposals on this issue outlined in the note of 4 December 1979
No 312/2/073 by the KGB and the Ministry of Defence (attached).

SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

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[page two]

Concerning item 82,
Minutes 176

Top Secret
Special File

To the CPSU Central Committee

The Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, General Secretary of the Popular Democratic Party of Afghanistan and Afghan prime minister H. Amin has recently and insistently raised the necessity of sending a Soviet motorized rifle battalion to Kabul to defend his residence.

In view of the present situation and H. Amin’s request, we considers it would be expedient to send a special GRU detachment trained for this purpose to Afghanistan, with a complement of about 500 men, in a uniform which does not reveal their origin as members of the Soviet Armed Forces. The possibility of sending such a detachment was envisaged in the Politburo Resolution of 29 June 1979, No Pb 156/IX.

Since the sending of the detachment to Kabul has been agreed with the Afghan side, we think it could be transferred by military aviation during the first ten days of December of this year.

We request authorisation

Yu. Andropov   N. Ogarkov

4 December 1979
No 312/2/073

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NOTES

See Short Biographies for identity and positions of Afghan, Soviet and other officials.

General

• 1. Notes and additions by translator and editor are bracketed, thus [ ];
• 2. Text added by hand is indicated in italic script;
• 3. when a handwritten phrase, figure or word has been added to a previously typed document it is indicated by underlined italic script.

Translation, JC