He further states it was the largest of the Muslim SS divisions with 26,000 men.[27] Lepre indicates that the division's prescribed strength was reduced from 26,000 to 21,000,[28] and Cohen states that the division achieved a maximum strength of 17,000 in April 1944.[29] The division had a Muslim imam for each battalion other than the all-German signal battalion.[30] For about six months the division included about 1,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and the Sandžak region who made up the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, which later became the 1st Battalion of the 28th Regiment (I/28).[31][32]