The Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) ( ur, ,

reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: FCKP(N)), is a group of paramilitary regiments of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, operating in the northern part of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province, overseeing the country's borders with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and assisting with maintaining law and order. It is one of four Frontier Corps with the others being: FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South) stationed in the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and FC Balochistan (North) and FC Balochistan (South) stationed in Balochistan province. The Corps is headed by a

seconded In deliberative bodies a second to a proposed motion is an indication that there is at least one person besides the mover that is interested in seeing the motion come before the meeting. It does not necessarily indicate that the seconder favors th ...

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

, who is a

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

officer of at least major-general rank, although the force itself is officially under the jurisdiction of the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. The Corps consists of several infantry regiments, themselves composed of one or more

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

-sized wings. Some of the regiments were raised during the colonial era. These include the

Chitral Scouts , image = Chitral scout.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = A band of the Chitral Scouts. , start_date = 1903 , disbanded = , country = , allegiance = , branch = Civil Armed Forces , type = Paramilitary , role = , size = ...

, the

Khyber Rifles The Khyber Rifles are a paramilitary regiment, forming part of the Pakistani Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North). The Rifles are tasked with defending the border with Afghanistan and assisting with law enforcement in the districts adjace ...

, the

Kurram Militia The Kurram Militia is a paramilitary regiment of the Frontier Corps of Pakistan. It was originally raised by the British in 1892 to operate in the North-West Frontier Province, and carried in that role following Pakistan's independence in 1947. Fo ...

, the Tochi Scouts, the South Waziristan Scouts, and the

Zhob Militia The Zhob Militia is a paramilitary regiment of the Frontier Corps, a Civil Armed Force based in Baluchistan and are one of the oldest paramilitary forces in the region. The militia is under the control of the Frontier Corps and is commanded by of ...

. The Khyber Rifles was in fact regularised during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

and fought with distinction in Kashmir.

History

The Frontier Corps was created in 1907 by

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

, the

viceroy of British India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

, in order to organize seven militia and scout units in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan: the

, the

, the Kurram Militia, the Tochi Scouts, the

Chagai Militia The Chagai Militia ( ur, ) is a paramilitary unit of Pakistan's Frontier Corps, originating in the area of Chagai District in Baluchistan (Pakistan). The regiment was initially known at the Chagai Levies and was raised by British Indian Army and ...

, the South Waziristan Scouts and the

. The Frontier Corps was led by an "inspecting officer" who was a British officer of the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. In 1943 the inspecting officer was upgraded to an

(an officer with the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

), and the corps was expanded with the addition of new units—the Second Mahsud Scouts (raised in 1944) and the Pishin Scouts (in 1946). A member of the Khyber Rifles

After Pakistan and India became independent in 1947, Pakistan expanded the corps further by creating a number of new units, including the Thal Scouts, the Northern Scouts, the

Bajaur Scouts The Bajaur Scouts is a paramilitary regiment of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan, recruited locally in Bajaur District and officered by regular Pakistan Army officers. The Scouts were previously the Bajaur Levies, and ...

, the Karakoram Scouts, the Kalat Scouts, the Dir Scouts and the Kohistan Scouts. British officers continued to serve in the Frontier Corps up to the early 1950s. The corps was split into two major subdivisions with FC Balochistan incorporating the Zhob Militia, the Sibi Scouts, the Kalat Scouts, the Makran Militia, the Kharan Rifles, the Pishin Scouts, the Chaghai Militia and the First Mahsud Scouts. In 1975 three units, the

Gilgit Scouts The Gilgit Scouts constituted a paramilitary force of the Gilgit Agency in northern Jammu and Kashmir. They were raised by the government of British India in 1913, on behalf of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, to police the northern front ...

, the Karakoram Scouts and the Northern Scouts, were merged to form a new paramilitary force called the

Northern Light Infantry The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of con ...

, which is now a full infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. In the late 1990s, the Frontier Corps played an important role in eliminating

opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamen ...

cultivation from

Dir District Dir is a region in northwestern Pakistan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Before Pakistan was created, Dir was a princely state, and it remained so until 1969 when it was abolished by a presidential declaration, and ...

in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 2007, after the collapse of truce agreements between the Pakistani government and local militants, the Frontier Corps, teamed with regular Pakistani military units, conducted incursions into tribal areas controlled by the militants. The effort produced a series of bloody and clumsy confrontations.Miller, Greg
"U.S. military aid to Pakistan misses its Al Qaeda target"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', November 5, 2007, accessed 7 November 2007. On August 30, about 250 Pakistani troops, mostly from the Frontier Corps, surrendered to militants without a fight. In early November, most were released in exchange for 25 militants held by the Pakistan Army. There is a widespread consensus among United States government military and intelligence experts that the Frontier Corps are the best potential military units against the Islamist militants because its troops are locally recruited, know local languages and understand local cultures. The United States provided more than US$7 billion in military aid to Pakistan from 2002 to 2007, most of which was used to equip the Frontier Corps because it is in the front line of the fight against the Islamist insurgents. From late 2007, the Pakistani government intended to expand the corps to 100,000 and use it more in fighting Islamist militants, particularly Al-Qaeda, after extensive consultations with the U.S. government, with a multi-year plan to bolster the effort, including the establishment of a counterinsurgency training centre. The US Obama policy for Pakistan was seen as a clear victory for the Pakistan Army lobby in the US. The $1.5 billion a year unrestricted aid recently announced will go a long way in seeing that the Frontier Corps stay at the height of their professional abilities due to new equipment and training. The Corps has also fired occasionally on the U.S.-assisted

Afghan Army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be t ...

.Stockman, Farah
"Pakistan aid plan facing resistance / $300m requested for paramilitaries"
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', July 22, 2007, accessed 7 November 2007.

Role

* Border security duties. * Assist Army/FCNA in the defense of the country as and when required. * Protect important communication centers and routes. * Undertake counter militancy/criminal/terrorism operations on orders. * Assist law enforcement agencies in maintenance of law and order. * Safeguard important sites and assets During times of difficulties, the government occasionally gives the FC the power to arrest and detain suspects such as in late 2012 and early 2013 when the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...

granted the FC policing powers. These temporary powers can also be extended on the orders or consent of the provincial government or federal government or both.

Organisation

The senior command posts are filled by officers seconded from the Pakistan Army for two to three years. The Corps consists of eleven infantry regiments, most of which are composed of a number of

-sized "wings", one armoured regiment, and a number of training and support units. * Independent Scouts Cavalry Regiment * Intelligence Unit *

(raised in 1961) *

Bara Rifles The Bara Rifles are a paramilitary regiment forming part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan. The name alludes to the Bara River and Bara Tehsil (a subdivision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province). The Rifles are tasked w ...

(1944) *

(formed in 1903) * Dir Scouts (raised in 1970) *

(1878) * Kohistan Scouts (raised in 1977) *

Mahsud Scouts The Mahsud Scouts is a paramilitary regiment forming part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) in Pakistan. The name alludes to the Mahsud tribe of South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ول ...

Mohmand Rifles The Mohmand Rifles is a paramilitary regiment forming part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) in Pakistan. The name alludes to the Mohmand tribe and the Mohmand Agency. The regiment had a 2020/21 budget of and is composed of a he ...

Orakzai Scouts The Orakzai Scouts is a paramilitary regiment forming part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) in Pakistan. The name alludes to the Orakzai tribe and the Orakzai Agency (now a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province). The regiment ...

* Swat Scouts * Tirah Rifles ;Interior Ministry support * 50 Aviation Squadron

Personnel

Bajwa meeting Frontier Corps KPK officials

In January 2022 during press briefing Pakistan military spokesperson General Babar Iftikhar says, As a part of Pakistan's Western border management, 67 new wings has been established for the FC Balochistan and FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to strengthen border security and formation of the six more wings is in process.

Equipment

Basic Equipment

* GIDS Ballistic Helmet *Bullet Proof vests *GIDS Knee pads

Small Arms

* VSK-100: The VSK 100 is essentially a Belarusian version of the AKM. *

QBZ-95 The Type 95 automatic rifle () or QBZ-95 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by Norinco, and issued since 1995 as the service rifle for the People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police and various paramilitary law enforcemen ...

: Used by the Special Operations Group (SOG) anti-terrorist unit *

H&K G3 The Heckler & Koch G3 (''Gewehr'' 3) is a 7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CET ...

: POF Made G3 Battle Rifles *

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

: Multiple Variants in service *

MG3 The MG 3 is a German general-purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 ''Einheitsmaschinengewehr'' (Universal machine gun) that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser r ...

: POF Made MG1A3 variant in service * PK-16: POF made Dshk heavy machine gun * Type-85: Chinese 12.7mm HMG *

RPG-7 The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. ...

: Rocket Propelled Grenade * Type-79: Chinese variant of the Dragonuv Sniper rifle

Mortars and Artillery

* MO-120RT: 120mm Mortar * LLR-81 Mortar: 81mm Mortar

Vehicles

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado The is a full-size four-wheel drive vehicle in the Land Cruiser range produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Prado is one of the smaller vehicles in the Land Cruiser range. From 2009, the Prado is based on Toyota's J150 platform. In ...

: VIP transport *

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

: Main Utility and troop/officer transport vehicle *

Land Rover Defender The Land Rover Defender (initially introduced as the Land Rover 110 / One Ten, and in 1984 joined by the Land Rover 90 / Ninety, plus the new, extra-length Land Rover 127 in 1985) is a series of British off-road cars and pickup trucks. They c ...

: Utility Vehicle * Mitsubishi L-200: Utility Vehicle *

Hino Ranger The Hino Ranger ( ja, 日野レンジャー) is a medium or heavy duty commercial truck manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Hino Motors since 1964. Outside of Japan, it is also known as the '500 Series' and as part of the 'F-Series,' ...

: Troop/Supply transport

Armoured Vehicles

The Frontier Corps operates various

HIT Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

made armoured vehicles. * Mohafiz: Unknown numbers in service. * Type-59 Tank: Type-59II variant in service. Handed over to Frontier Corps by

* Type-69 Tank: Type-69IIMP Variant in service. Also handed over by Pakistan army. *

T-55M The T-54/T-55 tank series is the most widely used tank in the world and has seen service in over 50 countries. It has also served as the platform for a wide variety of specialty armored vehicles.Miller, David ''The great Book of Tanks'' Salamand ...

: Modernized T-55 MBT. Number of Ex-Serbian units procured in 2020.

Aircraft

The Corps has access to the aviation resources of the Pakistan Army.

Inspectors general

The Corps was divided into FC NWFP and FC Balochistan in 1974. The inspectors general listed below are from 1974 to 2017. For previous inspectors general, see the

Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's ...

article. # Maj. Gen. Ghulam Rabbani Khan,

SBt sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala (programming language), Scala and Java (programming language), Java projects, similar to Apache Software Foundation, Apache's Apache Maven, Maven and Gradle. Its main features are: *Native support fo ...

(1974–78) # Maj. Gen. Agha Zulfiqar Ali Khan (1978–81) # Maj. Gen. Mian Muhammad Afzaal HI(M) SBt OKA(M) (

Shaheed ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

) (1982–84) # Maj. Gen.

Arif Bangash Lieutenant General (R) Muhammad Arif Bangash (1935 – 24 November 2019) was a Pakistan Army three-star general who served as governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, North-West Frontier province of Pakistan. Military career He belonged to the fami ...

, SBt (1984–86) # Maj. Gen.

Mohammad Shafiq Lieutenant General Mohammad Shafiq (born April 1934) is a retired three-star rank army general of the Pakistan Army. He also served as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 1999 to 2000. He was appointed to that position on 21 October 199 ...

, SBt (1986–88) # Maj. Gen. Ghazi ud Din Rana, SBt (1988–90) # Maj. Gen. Humayun Khan Bangash, TBt (1990–91) # Maj. Gen. Muhammad Naeem Akbar Khan (1991–92) # Maj. Gen. Mumtaz Gul, TBt (1992–94) # Maj. Gen. Fazal Ghafoor, SBt (1994–97) # Maj. Gen. Sultan Habib (1997–2000) # Maj. Gen. Tajul Haq (2000–03) # Maj. Gen. Hamid Khan (2003–04) # Maj. Gen. Tariq Masood (2004–06) # Maj. Gen.

Alam Khattak Lieutenant General Muhammad Alam Khan Khattak, HI(M), TBt, was a Pakistan Army general who was the Commander of Southern Command based at Quetta and later served as the country's Federal Defence Secretary. He took over the command in October 201 ...

(2006–08) # Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan (2008–10) # Maj. Gen. Nadir Zeb (2010–2012) # Maj. Gen. Ghayur Mehmood, TBt (2012–2014) # Maj. Gen. Tayyab Azam (2014–2016) # Maj. Gen. Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood (2016–2017) In 2017 FC KP was split into FC KP (North) and FC KP (South). # Maj. Gen. Muhammad Waseem Ashraf (2017–2018) # Maj. Gen. Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan (2018 – Dec 2020) # Maj. Gen. Adil Yamin (Dec 2020 – Aug 2022) #Maj. Gen. Noor Wali Khan (August 2022 – present)

References

External links

*
Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
{{Authority control Khyber * Civil Armed Forces Military in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas

History

Role

Organisation

Personnel

Equipment

Basic Equipment

Small Arms

Mortars and Artillery

Vehicles

Armoured Vehicles

Aircraft

Inspectors general

See also

References

External links