Better border control: Dar, Gen Raheel discuss finances for civil forces

Govt decided to raise new civil armed forces wings for Pak-Afghan border

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday met army chief General Raheel Sharif to discuss financial matters regarding the raising of 29 new civil armed forces wings to be deployed along the Pak-Afghan border for better border management.

The decision to raise the new wings was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last month.

“Financing matters related to capacity building for effective Pak-Afghan border management including raising of fresh 29 Civil Armed Forces wings were discussed,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. However, the military’s media wing would not provide further details.

The move to raise the new civil armed forces wings is part of overall counter-terrorism strategy.  As security forces drove terrorists out of the tribal areas, focus is now on how to improve the border management to ensure that terrorists do not infiltrate between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2016.