Pakistan Rangers

The Pakistan Rangers (Urdu: پاکستان رینجرز) are a pair of paramilitary federal law enforcement corps' in Pakistan. The two corps are the Punjab Rangers (operating in Punjab province with headquarters in Lahore) and the Sindh Rangers (operating in Sindh province with headquarters in Karachi). There is a third corps headquarters in Islamabad but it is only for units transferred from the other corps for duties in the federal capital. They are both part of the Civil Armed Forces.

The corps' operate administratively under the Pakistan Army but under separate command structures and wear distinctly different uniforms. However, they are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend the approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long mutually recognised India–Pakistan border. This border does not include the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) in the Kashmir conflict, where the Pakistani province of Punjab adjoins Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Consequently, the LoC is not managed by the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, but by the Pakistan Army. They are also often involved in major internal and external security operations with the regular Pakistani military and provide assistance to provincial police forces to maintain law and order against crime, terrorism and unrest. In addition, the Punjab Rangers, together with the Indian Border Security Force, participate in an elaborate flag lowering ceremony at the Wagah−Attari border crossing east of Lahore.

As part of the paramilitary Civil Armed Forces, the Rangers can be transferred to full operational control of the Pakistan Army in wartime and whenever Article 245 of the Constitution of Pakistan is invoked to provide "military aid to civil power". An example of this is the Sindh Rangers deployment in Karachi to tackle rising crime and terrorism. Although these deployments are officially temporary because the provincial and federal governments have to allocate policing powers to the corps, they have in effect become permanent because of repeated renewal of those powers.

In July 2025, a tragic incident in Karachi's SITE-A Area drew attention to the deteriorating morale and working conditions within the Pakistan Rangers. A clash between a Rangers personnel and a police officer escalated into a deadly shootout, resulting in the death of Police Constable Waseem Akhtar and serious injuries to a Rangers official, Nauman, who was deployed with the 34 Wing. Nauman, reportedly under extreme stress, remains unconscious in hospital care.

Observers and law enforcement sources noted that the altercation reflected deeper systemic issues, including poor mental health support, low wages, and inadequate living conditions faced by paramilitary personnel. The incident reignited public debate over the lack of institutional reforms and the psychological toll on frontline forces operating in high-pressure urban deployment.