Pakistan’s Unlikely Anti-Drone Defence: How Fishing Nets Are Being Used At Police Posts

At police posts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reinforced nets are being stretched over rooftops and checkpoints to guard against a weapon that has become increasingly common in militant attacks: the small armed drone.

The measure is striking for its simplicity. While the provincial police are expanding their use of drones, anti-drone technology and specialised units, vulnerable posts are also being covered by a passive barrier that costs about PKR 400,000 for a standard checkpost, according to Hangu District Police Officer Tariq Habib.

The nets are not intended to bring down a drone or replace electronic countermeasures. Their purpose is narrower: to shield personnel and buildings from a drone or an explosive dropped from above. That makes them a low-cost layer of protection in a province where police are defending numerous exposed positions against repeated attacks.

Why Are Nets Being Used?

The immediate reason is a change in how militant groups are attacking police positions.

In April, a drone attack on the Sarki Piyala police checkpost in Hangu was followed by ground fire from militants. Police described a roughly seven-hour confrontation in which an armoured-vehicle driver was killed and a constable injured.

Another attack in Hangu on July 29 involved quadcopters carrying bombs before militants launched a ground assault, the same report said. At least 11 police officers were killed and 28 wounded, while 15 attackers were killed. The TTP claimed responsibility.

Local media has also reported repeated drone and quadcopter attacks on police stations and checkposts in and around Peshawar, including incidents at Hassankhel and Tarnab Farm. Police said nets had helped thwart two attacks on Matani police station.

The threat is therefore no longer confined to occasional drone strikes. Small unmanned aircraft are increasingly being used for surveillance, explosive attacks and as part of wider assaults on fixed security positions.

How Do The Nets Work?

The net is a physical barrier suspended above a vulnerable position.

Police officials told Al Jazeera that the reinforced mesh is placed several metres above a checkpoint, between buildings or around perimeter walls. A low-flying drone can become entangled in it, while an explosive dropped from above may be caught or detonated away from personnel below.

The protection is therefore aimed at reducing the consequences of an attack rather than preventing one.

One Hangu police officer told Al Jazeera that even if a munition detonated on the net, the barrier could reduce the amount of fragmentation reaching people on the ground. Another officer estimated that the arrangement could reduce potential losses by 40 to 50%, although that remains a local assessment rather than a measured province-wide result.

Why Is The Defence So Cheap?

The cost makes the system attractive when numerous posts need protection.

Habib told Al Jazeera that covering a standard checkpost cost about PKR 400,000, or roughly $1,435. He said police had sought additional provincial funding to expand the installations.

That does not mean nets are a substitute for sophisticated counter-UAS systems. Their advantage is that they can be installed around a fixed position without the equipment, specialist operators or infrastructure required for detection and electronic disruption.

For police responsible for a large number of vulnerable locations, that makes a simple overhead barrier useful even as more advanced systems are developed.

How Big Is The Drone Threat?

An official report cited said 246 drone attack attempts had been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by May 3. Bannu accounted for 215, followed by Dera Ismail Khan with 15, Malakand with seven and Peshawar with four. The report said those attempts had been foiled using advanced anti-drone technology, with no casualties or damage recorded.

But alongside the reported attacks in Hangu and Peshawar, it illustrates the scale of the problem facing police posts across the province.

Why Use Nets Alongside Technology?

The provincial police are not relying on the nets alone.

In March, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police announced the creation of a formal UAV Division, saying it had issued operating procedures, activated ground-control stations and equipped the Counter Terrorism Department and district police with drones and anti-drone technology. The force also began forensic examination of recovered hostile drones.

According to local media, the police were also training personnel to operate drones and acquiring counter-drone equipment, including handheld jammers.

The two approaches solve different problems. Electronic systems are intended to detect or disrupt the drone. Nets protect the position if a drone gets through.

That layered approach is also reflected in various countries for counter-unmanned-aircraft strategy, which includes physical measures such as anti-helicopter nets alongside detection, tracking and disruption technologies.

Where Are The Nets Being Used?

The installations are concentrated around vulnerable positions rather than deployed uniformly across the province.

Al Jazeera reported netting at the Sarki Piyala and Baliamena checkposts in Hangu, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police spokesperson said similar measures had been installed at posts in Kohat, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan. Some military positions had also adopted the approach.

Local media has separately reported installations at sensitive police stations and checkposts in Peshawar and other areas.

The pattern is consistent with the design of the system: it is most useful where personnel remain in a known, fixed location that can be protected from above.

Where Did The Idea Come From?

The approach has been influenced by the experience of Ukraine, where overhead nets have been used around positions and across roads to make low-altitude drone attacks more difficult.

Local media reported that the KP system was modelled on Ukrainian practices and adapted for smaller, fixed police positions.

The underlying principle is broader than either conflict. Governments increasingly treat physical barriers as one component of counter-drone defence, particularly where technical systems cannot cover every vulnerable site. The strategy explicitly includes physical protection as part of a layered response to unmanned aircraft.

Pakistan's adaptation is therefore less an isolated improvisation than a low-cost response to a rapidly changing form of warfare.

What Can The Nets Not Do?

Their limitations are substantial.

The mesh protects only the area beneath it. It cannot identify an approaching drone, locate its operator or stop surveillance. It also offers little protection to moving patrols, vehicles or targets outside the covered perimeter.

For that reason, it cannot replace detection, tracking or electronic countermeasures. However, physical protection acts as an integral layer within a wider counter-UAS system.

There is also little independently measured evidence yet on how effective the Pakistani installations are against different types of drones or munitions. Police reports of attacks being thwarted provide an indication of their value at individual posts, but not a province-wide measure of effectiveness.

What Does The Experiment Show?

The significance of the fishing nets lies in the problem they are trying to solve.

Small armed drones are relatively accessible and can force security forces to defend a large number of fixed positions. A response built entirely around sophisticated counter-UAS systems can be difficult to scale across every checkpoint, especially when police are already dealing with multiple forms of militant attack.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police is therefore combining specialist capabilities with a simple physical measure. The contrast is striking, but the logic is conventional: detect and disrupt what can be stopped in the air, and protect personnel against what gets through.

The nets are not a replacement for a counter-drone system, and there is not yet enough evidence to measure their overall success. Their value lies in something more basic: they are cheap, quickly deployable and designed for the specific vulnerability of a police post facing attack from above.

In a province where drones are becoming part of the militant arsenal, that may be enough to make a fishing net a piece of security equipment.