A member of the Khyber Rifles, 1946

Photograph by Major A G Harfield, Khyber Rifles, 1946.

The Khyber Rifles were one of several paramilitary police units recruited from the tribesmen of the North West Frontier. They served as auxiliaries to the regular Indian Army. Raised in the early 1880s and recruited from Afridi Pathan tribesmen, the Rifles were commanded by British officers on secondment from regular Indian regiments. When Pakistan won its independence in 1947 the Rifles became part of the new country's Frontier Corps. Today the Khyber Rifles are engaged in tracking down Taleban insurgents and Islamic terrorists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

From a collection of photographs by Maj A G Harfield, Khyber Rifles, 1946.