Pak to create new paramilitary ahead of Imran party protests

Pakistan said on Monday it was creating a national paramilitary force, prompting concern among opposition parties and human rights groups that it could be used as a tool of political repression.

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The move turns an existing paramilitary force deployed on Pakistan’s northwestern border with Afghanistan into a national security force that will be called the Federal Constabulary, State Minister for the Interior Talal Chaudhry told a press conference in Faisalabad.

Its new duties will include internal security, riot control and counter-terrorism, according to a copy of the amended law reported by the local Dunya News TV.

The announcement came after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former jailed Prime Minister Imran Khan said it would stage nationwide protests starting on August 5, the second anniversary of his arrest.

Several such protests since his August 2023 arrest have turned violent, in some cases paralysing the capital Islamabad for days.

Chaudhry added that President Asif Ali Zardari had already approved amendments in the law introducing changes in the paramilitary force.