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Kharan Rifles
Country Pakistan
BranchCivil Armed Forces
RoleParamilitary police
Size5 battalion-sized Wings
Part ofFrontier Corps
Garrison/HQNok Kundi
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel Qamar Zaheer[1]
Previous commandersColonel Pir Sadiq Shah[2]
Colonel Sadiq Ali Shah[3]

The Kharan Rifles is a paramilitary regiment forming part of the Pakistani Frontier Corps Balochistan (South). It is responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in southwest Pakistan. It guards the border area at the junction of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, a major transit area for trade and traffic. Administratively the regiment comes under the Interior Ministry, while it is commanded by seconded officers of the Pakistan Army.

History

In 1978, the Balochistan Constabulary, a paramilitary unit based in the Khuzdar and Kharan Districts in Balochistan Province, was deactivated, raised anew as a unit of the Frontier Corps and joined by the 84th Wing of the Chagai Militia. The new name of the unit was the Kharan Rifles and their base was moved from the large city of Khuzdar to the remote settlement of Nok Kundi. The Rifles were subdivided into three battalions: the 75th Wing, the 76th Wing, and the 84th Wing. By 1985 the Rifles had a strength of 2,200 personnel,[4] but it remained a lightly-armed unit.[5]

In 1988, personnel of the Rifles discovered and neutralised several explosive devices on the main highway linking the Iranian city of Zahedan and Pakistani city of Quetta.[6] In September 1999, one person died and three were injured in a confrontation with armed personnel based in Taftan, Balochistan.[7]

In the early 21st century, the Rifles apprehended significant amounts of smuggled weapons and ammunition near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chagai District including on 11 July 2002,[2] and 16 March 2006.[8]

The Rifles have also been in anti-drugs operations. In June 2002, the unit intercepted smugglers and seized two tonnes of heroin, with an estimated street value of $13 million.[3] In 2011-2012, the unit received a number of drug testing kits to assist in their work against drug smuggling.[9]

Units

References

  1. ^ "Kharan sports, culture festival kicks off". The Express Tribune. 24 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Ammunition seized". Dawn. 12 July 2002.
  3. ^ a b "2 tons of heroin seized after gun battle". Chicago Tribune. 9 June 2002.
  4. ^ Pacific Defence Reporter. Vol. 12. Peter Isaacson Publications. 1985. p. 19.
  5. ^ Near East/South Asia Report. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, United States. 1986. p. 119.
  6. ^ Pakistan Horizon. Vol. 41. Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. 1988. p. 136.
  7. ^ Pakistan Labour Cases. Vol. 46. Malik Muhammad Saeed. 2005.
  8. ^ "Arms seized". Dawn. 17 March 2006.
  9. ^ "Equipping Pakistan's Law Enforcement For Interdiction" (PDF). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 25 February 2011.
  10. ^ "The Gazette of Pakistan. Part III. Office of the Inspector General Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 20 September 2019. p. 113. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  11. ^ "The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 30 December 2020. p. 180. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
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