Paramilitary forces of Pakistan

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Military of Pakistan

Joint Services Parade in 2005
Service branches Pakistan Army

Pakistan Air Force

Pakistan Navy

Pakistan Coast Guard
Paramilitary forces of Pakistan
Pakistan Strategic Nuclear Command
Headquarters Rawalpindi
Leadership
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Tariq Majid
Secretary of Defense Kamran Rasool
Chief of Army Staff
Chief of Air Staff
Chief of Naval Staff		 Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed
Afzal Tahir
Military age 16-49 years old [1]
Available for
military service		 39,028,014 males, age 16-49 (2007 est.),
36,779,584 females, age 16-49 (2007 est.)
Fit for
military service		 29,428,747 males, age 16-49 (2007 est.),
28,391,887 females, age 16-49 (2007 est.)
Reaching military
age annually		 1,969,055 males (2007 est.),
1,849,254 females (2007 est.)
Active personnel 619,000 (ranked 7th)
Reserve personnel 528,500
Expenditures
Budget $4.26 billion (ranked 39th)
Percent of GDP 4.5 (2006 est.)
Related articles
History Military history of Pakistan
UN Peacekeeping missions
Weapons of mass destruction
Ranks Awards and decorations of the Pakistan military

Pakistan's Paramilitary Forces is a grouping of various organizations which are constitutionally charged to safeguard Pakistan from external and internal threats. Their current strength is more than 300,000 personnel. Some, like the Northern Light Infantry, which was a paramilitary force until 1999, are now incorporated under the Pakistan Army.

Contents

[edit] Strength of the Paramilitary Forces

Service Total Active Duty Personnel
National Guard 185,000
Pakistan Rangers 30,000
Mehran Force 25,000
Frontier Corps 60,000
Maritime Security Agency 2,000
Total 302,000

[edit] Tasks of the Paramilitary Forces

  • Pakistan National Guard: The National Guard comprises the Mujahid Force, the Janbaz Force and locally recruited militia and are charged with air defense. Also included are the National Cadet Corps and the Women's Guard.
  • Pakistan Rangers: The Rangers are headquartered in Lahore, Punjab and in Karachi, Sindh. This force has a border security role on the international borders of Punjab and Sindh and perform internal security duties as an extension of the Army. This force is organised on a provincial level but are subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and are commanded by seconded army generals.
  • Mehran Force: The Mehran Force, based in the Sindh province, performs the same function as the Punjab-based Rangers. A force of 25,000 men is divided into "wings" of approximately 800 men each.
  • Frontier Corps: The Frontier Corps, based in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province and Quetta, Balochistan is responsible for protecting the western border regions. The force is responsible to both the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and to Army Headquarters. The Force comprises fourteen units based in the North-West Frontier and thirteen units based in Balochistan. Some of the local units have a long history such as the Chitral Scouts, the Khyber Rifles, Swat Levies, the Kurram Militia, the Tochi Scouts, the South Waziristan Scouts, the Zhob Militia, and the Gilgit Scouts. These histories date back to Colonial times and many of the regiments have distinguished combat records, e.g the Khyber Rifles. These regiments can be "regularized" i.e attached to regular Army as necessary. Khyber Rifles was in fact regularized during the 1965 war and fought with distinction in Kashmir.
  • Maritime Security Agency: The 2,500-strong Maritime Security Agency, headquartered in Karachi, is a coast guard and is responsible for patrolling Pakistan's territorial waters. The MSA is equipped with a former Pakistan Navy destroyer, two coastal patrol craft and four oceanic patrol craft.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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