Overview
- Security forces began installing overhead fishing or camouflage nets after the April 16 attack on the Sarki Piyala checkpost, and provincial police say covered posts in at least five districts have seen no further drone strikes.
- Each net-covered checkpost costs about 400,000 Pakistani rupees (roughly $1,435), which officials say is far cheaper than electronic or kinetic counter‑UAS systems that can run from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.
- Police officials say they ran a formal trial in Kohat in which an explosive was dropped onto a net and did not detonate, a claim they cite as evidence the measure can blunt some drone strikes.
- Defence analysts warn the nets could create a false sense of security because their protective value depends on design, placement and verified testing, and they note Pakistan still needs systems to detect and intercept drones shortly after takeoff.
- The improvised netting is part of a layered response driven by deadly TTP drone-and-ground attacks, strained cross‑border ties with Afghanistan over alleged militant safe havens, and reported moves to procure foreign technical anti‑drone gear to plug earlier system weaknesses.