Frontier Corps News & Discussions

[fatman17]

First ever Frontier Corps hospital inaugurated in Quetta


August 14, 2013 - Updated 2352 PKT





QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch Wednesday inaugurated the first-ever hospital of the Frontier Corps during a ceremony held here.



Inspector General of Frontier Corps Balochistan, Major General Obaidullah Khan Khatak, Home Secretary Balochistan Akbar Hussain Durrani were prominent among others who attended the inaugural ceremony.



CM Balochistan while addressing at a ceremony and later talking to media hoped that health facility built by the FC would not only benefit

the personnel of security forces but also provide best medical facilities

to the civilians in near future.



"Incumbent government has placed provision of quality education and best health facilities as its top most priorities," he recalled adding government of Balochistan would fully cooperate with the Frontier Corps Balochistan whether it required financial support or that of administrative for running the FC hospital.



CM noted that he was committed to maintain peace and the role of police and Frontier Corps against the eradication of the menace of terrorism has remained unprecedented.



IG FC Major General Obaidullah, on the occasion said that FC hospital would initially serve the personnel of security forces in the hospital and added efforts were being made to expand their services to the civilians as well.



"FC hospital is a gift for the people of the province," he said and vowed to continue to assist provincial government in maintaining peace and tranquility in Balochistan.



Earlier, the participants were briefed that FC hospital was complete with worth Rs 903 million.



Hospital consists of six blocks such as Trauma Center, OPD, Casualty, Diagnostic Laboratory and Dental Unit. Equipping health unit with the facilities of CT Scan, MRI and Angioplasty machines was being worked out.



CM Balochistan escorted by the IG FC visited various section of the hospital. (APP)

 

[fatman17]

Monday, August 26, 2013



FC’s use as private security inflicts Rs 183m loss on govt


By Tanveer Ahmed


ISLAMABAD: The audit authorities have unearthed Rs 183 million losses inflicted to national exchequer in the wake of deployment of Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel for security of private individuals as well as government organisations.

The major loss to the national exchequer was identified in the audit report of the Auditor General of Pakistan for the audit year 2012-13 that emphasised the public money should not be utilised for benefit of particular person or a section of community.

In the first case, the audit report observed that the personnel of FC were deployed for security of retired government servants, MNAs and senators and pointed out that deployment cost was not recovered from these individuals.

From 2009 to 2012, an expenditure of Rs 46.082 million was incurred on the deployment of these personnel. The management of District office Frontier Constabulary Gadoon Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deployed their 110 personnel for security of private individuals.

The auditor general observed that deployment of FC personnel to private individuals at public expense was irregular and unauthorised and when inquired about it, FC management didn’t reply to it.

The audit report recommended that expenditure incurred for providing security to private individuals should be recovered and deposited into government account. ha ha ha!!!

In a similar case, the amount of Rs 136.986 million could not be recovered by FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for deployment of their troops on the security of various private and government organisations during, 2011-12, the audit report revealed.

Irregular purchase of arms from ISI: Auditor general unearthed financial irregularity in the accounts of FC when it identified that the organisation purchased Rs 17.575 million worth of arms from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) without open competition.

The management of inspector general FC Headquarters Peshawar paid an amount of Rs 17.575 million for purchase of arms from directorate general ISI during the year 2011-12. These arms include 18 AA Gun 12.7 mm, 35 SMG 7.62 mm Chinese and 17 mortar 60 mm.

Audit General however observed that the items were purchased without open competition and pointed out that supplier, ISI, was neither a manufacturer nor sole proprietor of the items purchased.

The major discrepancy was FC management also floated a tender for the purchase of SMG and received a bid from AYA Corporation for US $ 280 per unit that accounts to Rs 25,200 per unit. However the bid was not considered.

It may be mentioned here that same purchased from ISI cost Rs 45000 per unit, higher than the bid given by AYA Corporation.

Audit report observed that procurements made without open competition deprived the government of benefits of competitiveness rates.

It also mentioned that purchase of SMGS7.62 mm Chinese from ISI instead of the rate offered by AYA Corporation resulted in a loss of Rs 693,000 and held that the matter may be investigated and responsibility be fixed on account of irregularity.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Shameful indeed...

 

[Ark-Angel]

Off-topic:
FC kho FC de kana...

 

[fatman17]

Frontier Corps

NWFP

1. Chitral Scouts
2. Khyber Rifles
3. Kurram Militia
4. South Waziristan Scouts
5. Tochi Scouts
6. Mahsud Scouts
7. Mohmand Rifles
8. Shawal Rifles

Balochistan
1. Zhob Militia
2. Chaghai Militia
3. Sibi Scouts
4. Kalat Scouts
5. Makran Militia
6. Kharan Rifles
7. Pishin Scouts
8. Maiwind Rifles
9. Ghazaband Scouts
10. Bambore Rifles
11. Loralai Scouts

The Frontier Corps' status as a locally-raised Pashtun force allows it access and acceptability amongst the indigenous population that even the Pakistani Army does not have. The 'Frontier Corps (FC) are a Federal paramiltary force manned mostly by people from the tribal areas and officered by officers from the Pakistan Army. The FC Stationed in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan Province, are known as FC NWFP and FC Balochistan, respectively. Both distinct provincial groups are run traditionally by an Army officer of at least major-general rank.

Another lesser-trained paramilitary force, having officers from the Police Service of Pakistan and other personnel from the Pashtun tribes, is also known as FC, though it stands for Frontier Constabulary.

The Frontier Corps, also called the Scouts, were reorganised after the Third Afghan war in 1919. The FC was raised and deployed there before the creation of Pakistan in 1947 by British colonial rulers of India. They are lightly armed soldiers who act as the political agent's police force. These forces are known for its bravery and hard work. They have served with bravery and distinction. They operate in those parts of the tribal areas where government writ extends; about 1/8th of FATA.

All the tribal administrative agencies have either one or two units of this force. They are manned by the tribes, who normally serve in mixed configurations to prevent breakdown of disciple. They are officered by regular officers of the Pakistani military. Today, they are tasked to assist the 90,000 strong army stationed in FATA.

With a total manpower of approximately 80,000, the task of these forces is to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order when called upon to do so. Border patrol and anti-smuggling operations are also delegated to the FC. Lately, these forces have been increasingly used in military operations against insurgents in Balochistan and militants in the Federally Administered Tribal areas.

The Frontier Corps (FC) operated in FATA for securing the Afghan border and assisting the political administration of the seven tribal agencies to maintain law and order. This paramilitary force is well suited to operate in FATA. The largely Pashtun force is drawn from the same ethnic groups that inhabits the tribal areas, and so isr able to win the trust of the people and match their fighting skills. Presently 50,000-member strong and set to total 55,000 following fresh recruitment, the FC has largely managed security duties in the tribal areas and on the border with Afghanistan and earned praise for its discipline and bravery. While Frontier Corps troops understand the culture and region better and speak the local language, they have even less equipment and less training than the military.

Over a period of time, a separate FC was raised for Balochistan to police that part of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and be available for security duty in the violence-prone province. The FC subsequently spearheaded military operations against Baloch separatists and assisted the Pakistan Army in flushing out insurgents and protecting the country's largest gas deposits at Sui along with other natural resources in Balochistan.

The FC NWFP and FC Balochistan are commanded by officers drawn from the Pakistan Army. A serving major general serves as commander of the force and is referred to as the Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC). Tribesmen recruited from all Pashtun, Baloch and other tribes residing in the NWFP, FATA and Balochistan form the rank and file of the FC. The FC is also called Scouts.

Throughout its 100-year history, the Frontier Corps has faced diverse challenges. In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations. But just as drugs and terrorism are linked, investigations of terrorists and drug criminals often overlap, and accordingly the Frontier Corps is very involved in counter-narcotics. In fact, it is estimated that in 2007, the Frontier Corps Baluchistan conducted 80% of the heroin and morphine-base seizures in Pakistan.

Recruited from the tribal areas and led by Pakistani army officers, the 80,000-member Frontier Corps historically has been poorly armed and trained. Some analysts maintain that the ISI has set up private organizations to distance the relationship between its military leadership and extremist fighters. These private organizations are staffed by retired ISI officers and funded through the budget of Pakistan's Frontier Corps.

The United States is working with Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps to train and equip this force and enhance its ability to capitalize on the unique skills, access, and abilities that it has in the border area. The special $75M authority Congress created for the Frontier Corps is an effective tool to aid U.S. efforts, but it too has its limitations - specifically, that it cannot be used for any other non-military force (which excludes, for example, the Frontier Constabulary, etc.).

In October 2008 a small contingent of US military trainers begun a training program aimed at turning Pakistan's Frontier Corps into an effective counter-insurgency force. The aim is "basically to train the Frontier Corps in counter-insurgency warfare to make them more effective in the tribal areas," The Pentagon had spent about $25 million so far to equip the Frontier Corps with new body armor, vehicles, radios and surveillance equipment, and plans to spend $75 million more in the next year. Over all, a senior Bush administration official said, the United States could spend more than $400 million in the next several years to enhance the Frontier Corps, including building a training base near Peshawar. United States trainers initially would be restricted to training compounds, but with Pakistani consent could eventually accompany Pakistani troops on missions "to the point of contact" with militants, as American trainers now do with Iraqi troops in Iraq.

"The 2007 plan to provide U.S. training and assistance to the tribal paramilitary Frontier Corps is misguided, however. Since their inception a century ago, those units have always been poachers-turned-wardens, with well-recognized limits on their reliability; and today they are more deeply infiltrated and compromised by divided loyalties than ever before. The Frontier Corps' problems have little to do with weapons and training, and U.S. troops recruited largely from the inner cities and trained for conventional warfare have little to teach rugged Pashtun hillmen about fighting in their own mountains in any case." No Sign until the Burst of Fire - Understanding the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason International Security, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Spring 2008), pp. 41-77

GSOrg.

 

[fatman17]

From a NYT article on FC - CT Unit



...A new Pakistani commando unit within the Frontier Corps paramilitary force has used information from the Central Intelligence Agency and other sources to kill or capture as many as 60 militants in the past seven months, including at least five high-ranking commanders, a senior Pakistani military official said.

Four weeks ago, the commandos captured a Saudi militant linked to Al Qaeda here in this town in the Khyber Agency, one of the tribal areas that run along the border with Afghanistan.

The newly minted 400-man Pakistani paramilitary commando unit is a good example of the new cooperation. As part of the Frontier Corps, which operates in the tribal areas, the new Pakistani commandos fall under a chain of command separate from the 500,000-member army, which is primarily trained to fight Pakistan’s archenemy, India.

The commandos are selected from the overall ranks of the Frontier Corps and receive seven months of intensive training from Pakistani and American Special Forces.

Eric Schmitt reported from Bara, Peshawar and Islamabad, Pakistan, and Jane Perlez from Islamabad.

 

[fatman17]

National
360 FC men martyred in Balochistan since 2007: IGFC

January 22, 2014 - Updated 1410 PKT
From Web Edition

ISLAMABAD: Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) Major General Ejaz Shahid has said that 360 paramilitary personnel were martyred in Balochistan since 2007, Geo News reported.
Briefing the senate’s standing committee here Wednesday, IGFC said those fighting with security forces should not be called as ‘enraged elements’ but as ‘militants’.
Major General Ejaz Shahid said the FC arrested a politician from Quetta and recovered 1.5 tonnes of explosive material.
He said: “Now Pakistani flags are fluttering over school building where flags of banned outfits were hoisted.”
He said terrorist activities demoralized police, adding that FC rendered many sacrifices in Balochistan but these were not being encouraged.
Ejaz Shahid regretted that FG had required Rs.28 billion but it was paid just Rs15 billion. He said that budget of paramilitary force was cut, adding the bills of ‘shuhada’ (martyred) were still pending.

 

[Xeric]

Rebuttal of “The News” Editorial (Their last, best hope) published on 24 January 2014 | Frontier Corps
Rebuttal of “The News” Editorial (Their last, best hope) published on 24 January 2014

Jan 29th, 2014

HOPE FOR US ALL

At this critical juncture once our country is facing number of challenges, the worst role that can be played is to scandalize and undermine security forces which are performing their duties at the cost of their lives. It so happens once one newspaper presents a picture of a meeting, which strangely was missed by dozen of other media representatives, to grind its ax for unknown reasons. Such was the case reported in the editorial titled “Their Last, Best Hope” published in ‘The News’ of 24 January. It was startling to read the statements attributed to IGFC Balochistan, to have been made during meeting of Senate Standing Committee for Interior and Narcotics Control. To put the record right, correct version of what was stated by IGFC is as follows. First; in response to a query IGFC proffered before the Committee that Mr Shahzain Bugti and his caravan’s personnel have every right to come to Dera Bugti, however to reduce chances of tribal feud, some administrative steps like prevention of entry of arms and registration of people coming to the area were suggested to Provincial Government, and at no stage the words like ‘his caravan was filled with terrorists’ were said. Secondly; it was no less than blatant misinformation that FC views only the sub nationalists as terrorists and those involved in sectarian killings are nowhere in sight of FC. It may be pertinent to mention that exclusive security umbrella of FC, at Hazara Community residential areas in Quetta, escorting the Zaireen to and from Iran, and various operations even recently conducted against religious extremists nullify the assertion. Third; IGFC while stating the prevailing condition in schools actually stated the root cause of subversion and the complacent neglect of concerned authorities. Fourth; it is an absolutely prejudiced stance where a contempt notice, which has already been withdrawn after due legal process is referred to and all other appearances of IGFC before the Honorable Supreme Court have been overlooked. Last but not the least, it would be appreciated if sub-judice cases are not commented upon, as is the case in civilized societies. In the end it is not reactive, proactive or aggressive approach rather prudent and active Supreme Court which is a “Hope for Us All”.

Rebuttal of “The NEWS” editorial (Their last, best hope) published on 24 January 2014. Their last, best hope - thenews.com.pk
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-228246-Their-last-best-hope
Public Relations Officer
For Inspector General Frontier Corps Balochistan
(Khan Wasseh)


The editorial:

 

[VCheng]

At this critical juncture once our country is facing number of challenges, the worst role that can be played is to scandalize and undermine security forces which are performing their duties at the cost of their lives.

The key issue is whether they are discharging said duties in a legal manner or not.

 

[fatman17]

this is only one side of the story. mistakes have been made in the past and now by the uniformed class, but pray tell me what the likes of shazain bugti etc have done for the welfare of their people. zilch! nada!, zero!.

 

[SQ8]

The FC is however named in human right abuses similar to those carried out in Bangladesh against its opposition intelligentsia.
Now whether it is the FC or miscreants within or outside the FC posing as the FC.. the result is that the Baloch are more and more antagonized about their future with Pakistan and as such view a breakup of this country as inevitable.

 

[fatman17]

Change of guard ceremony at Mazar-e-Iqbal on Pakistan Day

March 23, 2014 - Updated 755 PKT
From Web Edition

LAHORE: A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) assumed guard duties at the Mazar-e-Iqbal on Pakistan Day being celebrated on Sunday here, Geo News reported.
The ceremonial Guard mounting was followed by floral wreath laying and offering of ‘Fateha’ at the mazar of Allama Iqbal by the chief guest on this occasion Air Vice Marshall Mujahid Anwar.

 

[fatman17]

25-pounder Field Gun-Howitzer

Fire from the British 25-pounder (3.45-inch) field gun-howitzer, the basic field piece of the British Army, has been extremely effective for two reasons: (1) the 25-pounder is an excellent field gun, and (2) British artillery was well-trained before the outbreak of war. German tanks when struck by 25-pounder armor-piercing shell at ranges less than 1,000 yards have sometimes been knocked out; some have had turrets completely blown off, and others have been set afire. Indirect 25-pounder fire is, however, not effective for stopping tank attacks, but it can cause the tanks to "button up" their hatches. Reports of indirect fire's stopping tank attacks are believed to be erroneous interpretations of the repulse of reconnaissances in force.

Figure 11.--Diagrammatic sketches of British 25-pounder field gun-howitzer, showing its characteristics (with British terminology)

Figure 12.--British 25-pounder field gun-howitzer, showing the method by which it is transported

The 25-pounder has been replacing both the 18-pounder and the 4.5-inch howitzer of the last war. The tube has a removable liner which can be changed in the field. The gun can be placed in firing order on its platform in 1 minute. The firing platform is in the form of a wheel which is carried either under the trail or on the back of the prime mover. To place the piece in action, the platform is lowered to the ground and the carriage is then manhandled or tractor-drawn over it and coupled to its center. To permit easy maneuvering of the trail, the spade has been imbedded in a "box" commonly called a "banana," which functions very effectively and prevents the trail from digging in. The muzzle velocities with its three normal charges are 650, 975, and 1,470 feet per second, and with supercharge 1,700 feet per second.

Nature of weapon: field gun-howitzer.
Weight: 3,968 pounds.
Length: 25 feet 11 inches, including trailer (barrel, 92.5 inches).
Traverse: 360° on firing platform, 8° without platform.
Elevation: -5° to +40°.
Maximum range: 12,500 yards.
Ammunition: projectiles: armor-piercing (20 pounds), HE (25 pounds), and smoke (base-ejection type, 21.8 pounds); charges: three and a supercharge for HE.
Rate of fire: 8 rounds per minute (rapid) and 3 rounds per minute for prolonged firing.

still in use with the FC?

 

[Xeric]

still in use with the FC?

Yo.

 

[fatman17]

The FC is however named in human right abuses similar to those carried out in Bangladesh against its opposition intelligentsia.
Now whether it is the FC or miscreants within or outside the FC posing as the FC.. the result is that the Baloch are more and more antagonized about their future with Pakistan and as such view a breakup of this country as inevitable.

pl provide details.