Editing Pakistan Armed Forces (section)

==== Marines ====
{{Main|Pakistan Marines}}
[[File:Official logo of the Pakistan Marines.jpg|thumb|Badge logo of Pakistan Marines.]]

Recommended by the Navy, based on [[Royal Marines]], the [[Pakistan Marines]] were established on 1 July 1971 to undertake [[Riverine Warfare|riverine operations]] in [[East Pakistan]].<ref name="Marine Badges" /> The Marines saw their first combat actions in [[Operation Barisal|amphibious operations]] during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], fighting against the Indian Army.<ref name="Dawn News channels">{{cite web|last1=Khan|first1=Wajhat|title=Overview of Pakistan Marines|date=4 August 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bNl_xTcZZQ|publisher=Dawn News channels|access-date=8 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708182930/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bNl_xTcZZQ|archive-date=8 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to poor combat performance in the war, high losses and casualties, and inability to effectively counter the Indian Army, the Marines were decommissioned by 1974. However, Marines continued to exist in its rudimentary form until 1988 to meet fundamental security requirements of Pakistan Navy units.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} In 1990, the Marines were recommissioned under Commander M. Obaidullah.<ref name="Marine Badges"/>

[[File:US Navy 091012-N-8132M-245 Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU), along with Marines from Kuwait and Pakistan, conduct an amphibious assault demonstration during Exercise Bright Star 2009.jpg|thumb|left|Pakistan Marines in close co-ordination with the [[US Marines]] Corps, 2009.]]
The Marines are the uniform service branch within the Navy whose leadership comes directly from the Navy.<ref name="Dawn News channels"/><ref name="Dawn News,2014"/> It shares the [[Naval ranks and insignia of Pakistan|Navy's rank code]], but conducts its combined combat training with army at [[Pakistan Military Academy]] Kakul and School of Infantry in Quetta.<ref name="Marine Badges"/><ref name="ISPR Navy-A">{{cite AV media |date=4 December 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JtnB1FDqNY |title=Pakistan Marines |publisher=ThePakistanNavy |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223105037/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JtnB1FDqNY |archive-date=23 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Its single command structure is based at the [[Manora Fort, Karachi|Manora Fort]] in [[PNS Qasim|Qasim Marine Base]] in [[Karachi]] and the Marines are under the command of the Commander Coast (COMCOAST), by statute a two-star rear-admiral.<ref name="The Nation, 2013">{{cite news |title=Rear Admiral Syed Bashir new PN Coastal Commander|url=http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/16-Oct-2014/rear-admiral-syed-bashir-new-pn-coastal-commander|access-date=8 December 2014|work=The Nation |date=16 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202081612/http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/16-Oct-2014/rear-admiral-syed-bashir-new-pn-coastal-commander|archive-date=2 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the ISPR, the Marines are deployed at the southeastern regions of Pakistan to avoid infiltration and undercover activities from the Indian Army.<ref name="Dawn News,2014">{{cite news|last1=Khan|first1=Wajahat S.|title=Introduction to a silent force|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsUh7yp51U|access-date=5 January 2015 |work=Dawn News |date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601143359/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsUh7yp51U|archive-date=1 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of current appointment,{{when|date=January 2017}} Rear Admiral Bashir Ahmed is currently serving as the Commandant of Marines. A small number of Marine Battalions are deployed at the [[Sir Creek]] region<ref name="Daily Times, Pakistan">{{cite news|last1=Associate Press|title=Admiral Zakaullah visits forward bases|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/19-Nov-2014/admiral-zakaullah-visits-forward-bases|access-date=8 December 2014|newspaper=Daily Times |location=Pakistan |date=19 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318080329/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/19-Nov-2014/admiral-zakaullah-visits-forward-bases|archive-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> to deter the Indian Army, and coordinated the relief efforts in the [[2010 Pakistan floods]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-south-asia-10919568/amid-the-pakistan-floods-a-village-slowly-drowning|title=A village slowly drowning|date=9 August 2010|publisher=BBC|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231091934/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-south-asia-10919568/amid-the-pakistan-floods-a-village-slowly-drowning|archive-date=31 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Almost an entire combat contingent of Marines were deployed in [[Sindh]] and [[Punjab (region)|Southern Punjab]] to lead the flood-relief operations in 2014.<ref name="ISPR Navy-B">{{cite web|last1=ISPR Staff officer|title=pakistan marines to the rescue in northern sindh|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwpum4vhSA|publisher=ISPR Navy|access-date=5 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904011516/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwpum4vhSA|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Al Jazeera, Pakistan">{{cite news|last1=Hashim|first1=Asad|title=In Pictures: Floods ravage Pakistan|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/09/pictures-floods-ravage-pakistan-20149178953497809.html|access-date=5 January 2015|work=Al Jazeera |date=17 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213110832/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/09/pictures-floods-ravage-pakistan-20149178953497809.html|archive-date=13 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

For intelligence purposes, the army immediately raised the combat battalion of the Marines, from the officers of the Navy, in 1999.<ref name="Bloomsbury Press"/> Major intelligence activities are gathered from the Sir Creek region by the Marines, where an entire battalion is deployed to conduct reconnaissance.<ref name="Marine Badges">{{cite web|url=http://www.marinebadges.com/collection/pakistan/ |title=Components of Pakistan Marines|website=marinebadges.com|publisher=Marine Badges|url-status=live|access-date=5 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220091031/http://www.marinebadges.com/collection/pakistan/|archive-date=20 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Bloomsbury Press">{{cite book|last1=Aid|first1=Matthew M.|title=Intel wars: the secret history of the fight against terror|date=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-60819-481-0|edition=1st U.S.|url=https://archive.org/details/intelwarssecreth0000aidm}}</ref>