ISLAMABAD, July 3: The government has decided to set up an air wing under the Ministry of Interior for monitoring and surveillance, primarily of the country’s western borders witnessing war against terrorism.
The air wing is being established with the surveillance equipment, including three fixed-wings plane and five helicopters provided by the United States as a part of the ongoing cooperation against terrorism, an official source said.
A huge transport plane of the United States carrying the first consignment of the surveillance equipment landed at the Islamabad International Airport on Wednesday.
All the manpower including pilots and technicians required for air wing have been drawn from Pakistan Army who would be imparted training in Quetta under the supervision of the US experts, the source said.
The proposed air wing would assist Frontier Constabulary, Balochistan Levy and Coast Guards in keeping a close watch on the borders and check any illegal movement and drug trafficking.
The equipment reached on Wednesday afternoon did not include three fixed-wings planes. These planes would be delivered later, the source said.
A high-ranking defence official coordinating the deal, received the equipment on behalf of the government at the airport.
The agreement for supply of surveillance equipment worth $73 million was reached during Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider’s visit to Washington earlier this year.
Meanwhile, another project being implemented with the cooperation of the United States for installing a computer-based centralized Personal Identification Security Comparison Evaluation System (PISCES) at all the exit and entry points have been delayed.
The PISCES with a provision of scanning machine-readable passports has already been installed at Karachi’s Quaid-i-Azam International Airport. In the next phase, the system was to be installed at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta by May this year.
However, the installation of this system at these airports has been delayed owing to delay in the arrival of the American experts.
“We have no indication that when the team of US experts would arrive,” a source said.
After the installation of this system at all the airports it would be extended to all sea and land routes and these would be inter-linked to keep full track of people arriving or leaving the country.
