QUETTA: A passing-out parade of 250 personnel of the Balochistan Levies Force who completed their commando training was held here on Friday. The training was given by the Pakistan Army.

Addressing the ceremony, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said that Levies Force had a history of offering sacrifices in the line of duty since the British rule till today.

“The personnel of Levies Force are selected from the local community of each area and they are well aware of the tribal set-up and possible whereabouts of criminals and that is the reason they are playing an important role in maintaining peace and order in 90 per cent areas of Balochistan,” he said.

The chief minister said that Levies Force never surrendered to enemies and criminals in the past, but unfortunately some incidents had taken place over the past few months when some Levies personnel handed over their weapons to anti-peace elements. He held the previous government responsible for negligence which had created the bad trend in the force to surrender to enemies and criminals.

He said the provincial government would not need help of other security forces, including the Frontier Corps of Balochistan, if the Levies Force played its due role against anti-peace elements. He, however, appreciated the role of Levies Force in Khuzdar for restoring peace in the area, adding that when this force could restore peace in Khuzdar then it could also play a significant role against anti-peace elements in other parts of the province.

Mr Baloch announced a cash prize of Rs20,000 for each Levies’ man who had completed the training course and Rs50,000 for each instructor.

Later, he distributed prizes and certificates among participants of the course. Senior military and civil officials were present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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