Frontier Constabulary

The Frontier Constabulary (FC) is a paramilitary police force responsible for maintaining law and order in Pakistan and dealing with Situations out of the capabilities of Normal Police Force of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was founded in the British Indian Empire, and in 1913 it was named after the former North-West Frontier Province.

Introduction
The Frontier Constabulary is a federal paramilitary police force of Pakistan which is largely drawn from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, but operates in all the provinces of Pakistan. The Frontier Constabulary was created by amalgamating Border Military Police (BMP) and Samana Rifles (SR) in 1913. Both of the forces were guarding the border between the then settled areas of NWFP and Tribal areas. Frontier Constabulary’s main function is to police the border of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Tribal areas against tribal incursions, criminal gangs operating across the border and to check the smuggling of contraband items.

History
The Frontier Constabulary is a sort of police force and is commanded by senior police officers. It is employed on the lines between the tribal agencies and settled districts. Previously this used to be known as Border Militia and this is even now known as militia by the common people. They are liable to home services only and in case of emergency, assist the regular army in operations.

Frontier Constabulary was created as an independent Civil Armed Force, under the provisions of Frontier Constabulary Act, 1915. under this Act, Frontier Constabulary Rules 1958 were framed. This force is also under the administrative control of the Ministry of Interior. From an operational point of view, the functioning of this force is supervised by the Home departments of the respective provincial governments. The Frontier Constabulary, an armed police force, also operates in a small area bordering FATA and the settled districts. The KPK police does not have jurisdiction over FATA’s agencies or the Frontier Regions. Originally, it was aimed at stopping incursions and raids from the tribal areas. Now, its original function has been overshadowed by an increasing involvement in the internal security duties and protection of vital installation as well as embassies.

Organizational structure
The senior officer ranks in the Frontier Constabulary are the Commandant, the equivalent of Inspector General of Police and popularly and officially referred to as the CFC who heads the force, Deputy Commandant, the equivalent of Deputy Inspector General of Police, a District Officer, the equivalent of Senior Superintendent of Police and an Assistant District Officer, the equivalent of Assistant Superintendent of Police. The senior hierarchy of FC is drawn from the Police Service of Pakistan.

Area of responsibility
FC accomplishes its basic function by dividing the area of responsibility into F.C districts which in turn have an intricate network of Forts, Posts and Pickets located strategically along the tribal settled border. With the passage of time, and additional duties assigned to FC, the geographical area covered by FC also increased. At present there are 17 FC districts stretching from Gilgit in the extreme north to Karachi in the extreme South of the country. Thus in all the provinces of Pakistan, except Punjab, FC is performing its duties. However, various FC platoons have also been deployed in Punjab for the security of sensitive installations and VVIPs.

Following are some major duties which are assigned to Frontier Constabulary:


 * To guard the border between tribal and settled area.
 * To stop tribal incursions in individual cases or in the form of gangs.
 * To check outlaws and their evil designs in the area.
 * To stop kidnapping and checking on tribal disputes on the administrative borders.
 * To act as a second line of defense in times of grave emergency.
 * To assist the local administration in times of need (internal security).
 * To control and eliminate poppy cultivation and growth.
 * To check trafficking of narcotics, illegal weapons and smuggling.
 * To perform any other duties assigned by the government.

Training facilities

 * FC Shabqadar. Located 40 km North of Peshawar created in 1922. Capacity 700 recruits.
 * FC Hayatabad. Located 15 km West of Peshawar. Created in 1985 but Training facility started in 2009 due to occupation of FC Training Centre Swat at Kanju by Army. Capacity 500 recruits.

Former commandants of the Frontier Constabulary

 * R.C Boyle ESQ C.I.E (1912–1921)
 * E.C Handyside ESQ, C.I.E OBE (1921–1926)
 * A.F Perrott ESQ, LP (1926–1926)
 * AV Short ESQ, CIE (1926–1928)
 * B.C.A Lawather ESQ. I.P (1928–1928)
 * H. Lillie ESQ (1933–1935)
 * AV Short ESQ, CIE (1935–1936)
 * K.B.T Mohammad Khan B.A.I.P (1936–1936)
 * G. Gilbert Grace, ESQ, C.I.E. OBE. (1937–1944)
 * H.F Scroggie ESQ, OBE (1947–1948)
 * S.A Rashid OBE, P.S.C. (1948–1951)
 * A.B Awan Esq, PSP (1948–1948)
 * Nawabzada Mohammad Farid Khan PSP (1952–1953)
 * Mohammad Anwar Afridi PSP (1953–1955)
 * Pir Sarwar Shah B.A. LLB. P.S.C. (1956–1958)
 * Muzaffar Khan Bangash, TQA, PPM, PSC (1969–1970)
 * Shafi Ullah Khan PSP (1971–1972)
 * Mohammad Jaseem Khan (1972–1978)
 * Dil Jan Khan S.B.T (1978–1980)
 * Syed Saadat Ali Shah (1980–1982)
 * Muhammad Abbas Khan (1983–1986)
 * Gohar Zaman Khan Mohmand (1986–1988)
 * M. Saeed Khan (1991–1995)
 * Afzal Ali Shigri (1995–1996)
 * Syed Kamal Shah (1996–1997)
 * Muhammad Aziz Khan (1997–1997)
 * M. Saeed Khan (1997–1999)
 * Syed Kamal Shah (1999–2000)
 * Israr Mohammad Khan Shinwari (2000–2005)
 * Sikandar Mohammadzai (2005–2006)
 * Malik Naveed Khan (2006–2008)
 * Zafarullah Khan PSP, PPM (Bar) (2008–2009)
 * Safwat Ghayur PSP, SJ (2009–2010)
 * Akbar Khan Hoti PSP (2010–2011)
 * Abdul Majeed Khan Marwat PSP (2011–2014)

Notable commandants

 * Mr. A B Awan
 * Mr. Mohammad Anwar Khan Afridi
 * Safwat Ghayur
 * Mr. Dil Jan Khan
 * Mr. Muhammad Abbas Khan