Pakistan to deploy surveillance drones in Balochistan

Karachi - Federal government's approval is prerequisite for using drones in Pakistan.

Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province, hit hard by militancy, sectarian and separatist violence, plans to deploy aerial drones to hunt down those unleashing unrest and terrorism.
"We have sent a letter to the federal government seeking permission to use the surveillance drones in the province," provincial Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said Sunday.
"We believe the use of surveillance drones will help the security and law enforcement agencies a lot since there are a lot of remote areas and mountainous regions in the province where these people take refuge," he said, adding that the provincial government had allotted a budget for this purpose.
He said the province's law enforcement and security agencies require to utilise modern technology to combat the terrorists, militants and criminals.
Balochistan has been wrecked by regular violence unleashed by militant and separatist groups who are also following the agenda of sectarian killings.
The province has witnessed an upsurge in violence in recent months with insurgents targeting people from other provinces working in Balochistan and the militants targeting the Hazara community.
Federal government's approval is prerequisite for using drones in Pakistan, Durrani said, adding that special training programmes would be organised to train the police how to operate the flying cameras.
The government has intensified actions against terrorists and their handlers involved in subversive activities in provincial capital Quetta besides installing more security cameras for aerial surveillance.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti have in recent times blamed India's external intelligence agency RAW for fanning violence in the province. India, however, has always refuted the allegations.

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