KP police integrate drones into Peshawar Safe City network

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have integrated drone and anti-drone technology with the Peshawar Safe City project‘s central command system to strengthen aerial surveillance and improve responses to potential security threats, police officials said on Wednesday.

Officials said the integration was the first of its kind in Pakistan, enabling authorities to monitor drone activity, receive alerts about suspicious aircraft and oversee aerial surveillance through the Safe City control room.

The anti-drone system will monitor drones within its radar coverage, with each unit in Peshawar covering an area of up to five kilometres.

Any suspicious drone entering the monitored area will trigger an automatic alert at the central control room, officials said.

The integrated system is expected to support security operations by providing round-the-clock aerial surveillance of sensitive installations, traffic and suspected criminal activity.

Police officials said that drone surveillance would also be linked to Safe City projects in Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat.

The system will enable officials to monitor aerial surveillance feeds and field operations from the central control room.

The drone network is also expected to assist the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) during operations by providing aerial intelligence and a real-time view of operational areas, officials added.

The development comes as KP Police expand their use of unmanned aerial vehicles and counter-drone technology amid growing security challenges, particularly in the province’s southern districts.

Peshawar Safe City project

Conceived in 2008, the Peshawar Safe City project faced repeated delays before being formally launched in May 2025. Work subsequently progressed under an agreement involving the provincial government and the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC).

The project was inaugurated in March 2026 at a reported cost of Rs2.23 billion, with 711 surveillance cameras installed at 133 key and sensitive locations across the provincial capital.

Its central command and control centre is designed to integrate surveillance, emergency response and traffic management.

The wider system includes advanced cameras, facial-recognition technology and links to existing camera networks at sensitive locations and along the Bus Rapid Transit corridor. Plans also include smart surveillance vehicles, drones, anti-drone systems and emergency panic buttons.

In March 2026, KP Police established what they described as Pakistan’s first dedicated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) division to strengthen aerial surveillance and counter the growing use of drones by militants.

The initiative included ground control stations across the province and plans for a Drone Innovation Centre at the Elite Police Centre in Nowshera.

Police had also deployed anti-drone equipment in response to attacks involving quadcopters in parts of the province.

The integration of drones and anti-drone systems with the Safe City network marks a further step towards combining aerial surveillance with the police’s existing urban monitoring and command infrastructure.