QUETTA, Dec 22: The Balochistan government has incorporated the revenue limits of five more districts of the province into 'A' area - including the coastal district of Gwadar - with immediate effect , a handout issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department said on Wednesday.

The other four districts are Mastung, Jhal Magsi, Pishin and Kech (Turbat). Having been declared 'A' area, these districts will now come under police control and police would replace the levies (rural police) there.

The Balochistan government has decided that all the 26 districts of the province would be declared police area over the next five years, abolishing the levies force.

In the first phase, Quetta, Nasirabad and Lasbela had already been declared 'A' area last year. The levies force had merged with police in the districts already declared 'A' area. This will continue to happen in other districts following suit.

The move, however, has met with resistance from tribal elders and political parties, who maintain that Balochistan is a tribal society, having its own peculiar customs, and the levies force was well-suited to police it. They fear that the province's handover to police would increase the crime rate manifold.