Kharan Rifles

Kharan Rifles is a federal government paramilitary unit charged with maintaining the westernmost proximity of Pakistan. It has the unique responsibility of being the only organization responsible for manning parts of Pakistan's Afghan and Iranian borders.

Geography
Historically and geologically, the area is part of the Sistan Basin, one of the world's largest inland drainage basins. The basin, one of the driest in the world, is often subject to prolonged droughts. This rare type of desert is barren, stony and sand-dune covered with relief of 80 to 320 metres per square km and average slopes of 2 to 8 degrees. It has 3 to 4 drainage ways per km of random traverse. While temperatures are extreme, precipitation is rare and never exceeds more than 2 – 4 mm per year. Land elevations generally slope from northwest and northeast to South. The RCD highway and railway line while being critical also roughly divides the area into two geographic halves, approximating the hilly and sandy features of the area. Main features in the North are Chagai Hills on it North-East end, Koh-i-Sultan range in its center, Hamun-i-Mashkil on its South-East end and Dasht-i-Tahlib on its South-West end and Koh-i-Malik Shah on its North-West end. This transverse band of serrated hills and jagged peaks are interspersed with gravel tracks and sand dunes. The Koh-i-Sultan, at the western extremity of the northern group of these irregular hills, is over 6000 ft. above sea-level. Movement is restricted to corridors between the hills / mountains and the sand patches. South of the RCD highway, general level of surrounding deserts is only about 2000 ft., sinking to 1500 ft. in the Mashkel Hamun. This area is plain yet sandy allowing for unrestricted mobility except where restricted by shifting sand-dunes.

Climate. Very cold winters and hot summers characterise the climate of this area. In Summers, strong windstorms make these areas very inhospitable by kicking up dust storms. On May 5, a thick band of dust extended along hundreds of kilometers of the border between the two countries. This photo-like image, from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, shows the southernmost portion of the plume. The large image shows the entire plume over a broader region. The dust is thick enough to hide the ground from view. It is not clear from this image where the dust is coming from, but dry wetlands in this region are a common source of dust. One such wetland, the Hamun-i-Mashkel is in the lower left corner of the image. The dried wetland is a lighter shade of brown than the surrounding desert.

Location
Kharan Rifles is located in the western portion of Chagai district, Balochistan Province. This area forms the junction of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan leading it to be a major transit area for trade and traffic.

History
Kharan Rifles derives its origins from the Chagai Militia, raised in 1896 to look after the area extending from the tri-border between Iran, Afghanistan, and the then British Indian Empire to the southernmost part of the border with the aforementioned empire, on the Arabian Sea. In 1978, the Baluchistan Constabulary, a Levies unit located at districts Kharan and Khuzdar, was converted to a unit of Frontier Corps (Balochistan) and named the Kharan Rifles. The personnel of the constabulary units were organized as 75 Wing and 76 Wing, while 84 Wing of Chagai Milita was detached from that unit and placed under a command given the name "Kharan Rifles".

Given the responsibility of looking after Chagai district, Kharan Rifles disposition in 1978 was as follows: Unit Headquarters at Nok Kundi, 75 Wing at Taftan, 76 Wing at Dalbadin and 84 Wing at Mashkhel / Qila Ladghast. In addition a field artillery battery and an armored car (AC) squadron also fell under the unit's command. In 2005, on the raising of the Dalbadin Rifles, 76 Wing moved to Saindak. In the same year, 84 Wing was detached from Kharan Rifles to be placed under the command of the newly raised Panjgaur Rifles. In the same year, two more wings (105 Wing and 109 Wing) were raised.

Environment
With an area of responsibility spread over 2000 square km bordering two countries and holding vast strategic mineral resources, Kharan Rifles environment is characterized by a number of variable and invarible factors.

Tasks

 * 1) Mann and monitor international border between Iran and Pakistan, and Afghanistan and Pakistan exercising border control over designated crossing places in conjunction with border control agencies.
 * 2) Provide security / assistanceto national mineral extraction projects while monitoring their progress.
 * 3) Provide security / assistance to federal, provincial and security agencies.
 * 4) Undertake non-intrusive monitoring of RCD highway.
 * 5) Perform anti-smuggling, anti gun-running and anti human-smuggling duties.
 * 6) Undertake operations to interdict narcotics traffic.
 * 7) Facilitate / undertake tasks for uplift / welfare of local populace.
 * 8) Aid district administration in Disaster Management and Relief Operations.

Organization
As of 2010, the Kharan Rifles has four wings, a field battery and an AC squadron.