Chitral Scouts | |
---|---|
Urdu: چترال سکاوٹس | |
Founded | 1903 |
Country | Pakistan |
Branch | Civil Armed Forces |
Type | Paramilitary |
Role | Border patrol Counterterrorism Counterinsurgency Special operations |
Size | 7 wings |
Part of | Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) |
Garrison/HQ | Drosh Cantonment |
Engagements | Indo-Pakistani War of 1947[1] Kargil War[2] |
Commanders | |
Commandant | Colonel Sami Zaman Khan |
The Chitral Scouts (CS) (Urdu: چترال سکاوٹس), also known as Chitral Levies, originally raised in 1903 as the militia of the princely state of Chitral, is now part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan.[3]: 116 They are recruited mostly from the Chitral and Kalash Valleys areas along the western borders and are led by officers from the Pakistan Army. The Frontier Corps of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) falls under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. Its headquarters is at Chitral town, and it is commanded by a Colonel of the Pakistan Army.
The regiment has a 2020/21 budget of Rs. 1.7 billion,[4] and is composed of seven battalion-sized wings, each headed by army officers with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel or Major. Its role is to keep guard over Pakistan's western borders in peacetime and to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order in the district of Chitral.