Gwardia Ludowa was created on 6 January 1942 with military aid from the Red Army. The availability of firearms led to GL swiftly reaching a strength of 3,000 fighters. Gwardia Ludowa was connected to the NKVD intelligence services of the Soviet Union with NKVD colonels commanding some AL military actions. It was tasked with fighting against Germany by means of partisan warfare, sabotage, and reprisal actions. The full size partisan detachments were formed in May 1942 although foray groups were organized earlier. They operated near Piotrków and Radom. By the end of the year the organisation was divided onto seven administrative districts including Warsaw, Lublin, Radom-Kielce, Kraków, Łódź, Silesia and Lwów.