It was under control of the Independent State of Croatia until September 1941, when Italian forces gradually put it under their command and established additional units not only in Sandžak, but in eastern Herzegovina as well.

Its notable commanders include Hasan Zvizdić, Husein Rovčanin, Sulejman Pačariz, Ćazim Sijarić, Selim Juković, Bilall Dreshaj, Ćamil Hasanagić and Galjan Lukač.

After the suppression of the uprising, the militia continued to fight against Yugoslav Partisans, but some of its units also carried on with attacks on Serbs in Sandžak and eastern Herzegovina.

A history of hatred, frequent harassment and occasional violence directed towards the Sandžak Muslims by their Serb neighbors meant that they had generally maintained a system of mutual protection to keep watch over their communities and property.

[15] In Sjenica, Nova Varos, Priboj, Prijepolje and Bijelo Polje the streets were deserted when the Germans arrived, with shops closed and most people staying inside their homes.

[17] In Pljevlja some elements of the community, including the county and municipal mayors, met the Germans at the outskirts of the town and held a reception to welcome them.

[15] Throughout the Sandžak, the communists successfully convinced a portion of the population not to surrender their weapons to the Germans as they had been ordered, but their efforts were opposed by pro-German elements of the community who encouraged the handing-in of arms.

The Germans initially allowed officers of the defeated Yugoslav Army to return to their homes, so long as they reported regularly to the local garrison.

The platoon commander gave a short speech and addressed a meeting at a school, declaring that the Sandžak had been annexed to the NDH, and telling all the local officials they must swear an oath to their new country.

[30] The aspirations of the Ustaše were given additional impetus by the Sandžak Muslims, who sent a letter to the Poglavnik (leader) of the NDH, Ante Pavelić on 30 April 1941.

It also asked that Pavelić send a detachment of Ustaše militia to every district of the Sandžak, stating that such action had the full support of the Germans.

This divergence of views was reflected in a meeting at Bijelo Polje, which favoured joining the NDH, although a significant minority supported aligning themselves with Hadžiahmetović.

[35] At Nova Varos, the NDH gendarmes had a cool reception, the Ustaše district commissioner being a man brought in from Višegrad in eastern Bosnia.

By this time, combined German and NDH garrisons were in place in Priboj, Prijepolje and Nova Varos, and Bijelo Polje and Pljevlja were under strictly Italian control.

[30] Before withdrawing their troops from the Sandžak to prepare for the pending invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans wanted to quickly establish collaborationist control over the area.

[39] There were further changes to the Vienna Line on 21 May, when the Italians took over the communities of Rudo (in the NDH), Priboj, Nova Varoš, Sjenica and Duga Poljana,[38] but Novi Pazar remained in German hands.

[45] Between April[46] or June[47] and August 1941 they established Moslem Ustaše militia in the Sandžak, with strongholds in Brodarevo, Komaran, Hisardžik and parts of Novi Pazar, Štavički and Sjenica.

[64] In autumn 1941 the Italians appointed Osman Rastoder as a commander of the Muslim militia detachment in upper Bihor with its seat in Petnjica.

[71] On 31 March 1942, Chetnik leader Pavle Đurišić met with Rastoder and offered him a peace agreement between Muslims and Orthodox people.

[72] Ćazim Sijarić, Osman Rastoder, and Hasan Zvizdić were especially in favor of the annexation of the eastern part of Sandzak into the Kingdom of Albania.

[73] At the beginning of February 1942 detachments of Muslim militia from Sjenica, Prijepolje, Brodarevo and Komaran, together with Chetniks under command of Pavle Đurišić and Italian forces were planned to attack Partisans who were retreating through Sandžak after their defeat in Užice.

[74] When Italian forces recaptured Čajniče (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) in April 1942, they established a detachment of Moslem militia of about 1,500 men and supplied part of them with arms.

[82] Montenegrin Chetniks commanded by Pavle Đurišić pursued raids of revenge against Muslims in Sandžak, many being innocent villagers, with original motive to settle account with Moslem militias.

[83][84][85] On 7 January 1943 unit commanded by Ćazim Sijarić distinguished itself during attack of Chetniks led by Pavle Đurišić who burned many Muslim villages near Bijelo Polje.

[87] After subsequent attack of Chetniks from Sandžak and Bosnia on Bukovica (village near Pljevlja), they fought against Moslem militia and, according to the report of Pavle Đurišić, killed around 1,200 combatants and 8,000 civilians.

[88][89] In period February — June 1943 Muslim militia and Albanian forces burned almost all Serb villages in Tutin, Sjenica, Prijepolje and Novi Pazar and killed many people.

[100] As the senior Waffen SS officer Karl von Krempler appointed Hafiz Sulejman Pačariz, a local Islamic cleric of Albanian origin[101] as the formal commander of the unit, but as the key military trainer and contact person with German arms and munitions, remained effectively in control.

[105] On 3 February 1944 the units of the Muslim militia under command of Mula Jakup and also Bilall Dreshaj, Sinan Salković and Faik Bahtijarević attacked villages around Kolašin.

[107] In September 1944 Tito proclaimed general amnesty, allowing collaborators to switch sides, and almost all older members of militia deserted.

[109] After being defeated by Partisans during their attack on Sjenica on 14 October, Pačariz and his Regiment left Sandžak and went to Sarajevo in November 1944 where "SS Polizei-Selbstschutz-Regiment Sandschak" was put under the command of Ustaše General Maks Luburić.