The Frontier Corps (FC) is a MoI-affiliated227 group of four paramilitary forces228 overseen by army officers229 and constitutes one of the Pakistan Army’s reserve forces.230 It mainly operates in KP and Balochistan. Its two primary components are the KP Frontier Corps (composed of the FC KP North (headquartered in Peshawar) and the FC KP South (Dera Ismail Khan)) and the Balochistan Frontier Corps (comprising the FC Balochistan North231 (Quetta)232 and the FC Balochistan South (Turbat)).233 FC units conduct border patrols and surveillance to counter smuggling, illegal border crossings, and infiltration by militant groups. They administer and secure checkpoints, crossing points, and trade routes. Having some limited law enforcement powers, FC personnel also provide assistance to civilian authorities in internal security operations.234 The reference period witnessed several deadly militant attacks on FC personnel in their areas of operation.235 Meanwhile, the FC was reported to have been involved in dozens of enforced disappearances236 and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.237
- 227
US, CIA, World Factbook – Pakistan, last updated 30 December 2025, archived page from 4 February 2026, url
- 228
Express Tribune (The), New force planned to handle security, 14 July 2025, url
- 229
Express Tribune (The), New force planned to handle security, 14 July 2025, url; Baloch, K., Two Years on, State of Pakistani Security Continues to Deteriorate After Taliban Seizure of Afghanistan, The Jamestown Foundation, 8 September 2023, url
- 230
US, CIA, World Factbook – Pakistan, last updated 30 December 2025, archived page from 4 February 2026, url
- 231
Land of Pure People (The), Frontier Corps, 29 September 2025, url. The Land of Pure People is a Pakistani non-governmental website informing about cultural and political/government-related topics in the country, including on various security forces and state-linked paramilitary organisations. Land of Pure People (The), Homepage, n.d., url
- 232
Al Jazeera, Suicide blast near paramilitary headquarters in Pakistan’s Quetta kills 10, 30 September 2025, url; Land of Pure People (The), Frontier Corps, 29 September 2025, url
- 233
Land of Pure People (The), Frontier Corps, 29 September 2025, url
- 234
Land of Pure People (The), Frontier Corps, 29 September 2025, url
- 235
SATP, Pakistan: Balochistan Bleeds – Analysis, Eurasia Review, 27 January 2026, url; SATP, Balochistan: Assessment- 2025, n.d., url; SATP, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Assessment- 2025, n.d., url
- 236
HRCB, Human Rights Violations in Balochistan: 234 Enforced Disappearances, 87 Killings Documented in February 2026, 28 March 2026, url; PAANK, Balochistan Human Rights Report – 2025, 10 February 2026, url, pp. 1, 3; Malikzada, N., The True Cost of Enforced Disappearances in Balochistan, The Diplomat, 14 October 2025, url ; Voice PK, Enforced Disappearances: Govt claims drop, rights groups say rise, 8 July 2025, url
- 237
HRCB, Human Rights Violations in Balochistan: 234 Enforced Disappearances, 87 Killings Documented in February 2026, 28 March 2026, url