Police of Pakistan would like to acquire 20 Lazar II Serbian-made armoured fighting vehicles 1702141.

The APCs that the police department currently have are so badly damaged that bullets can easily pierce through them. In mid-November, 2013, several bullets penetrated through the body of an APC, killing a police official.

Earlier in the eight-day long operation in Lyari in May 2012, almost 18 APCs were destroyed by rockets, hand grenades and anti-aircraft guns used by the criminals.

Currently, the Sindh Police of Pakistan has around 90 APCs, manufactured by the local defense Company Heavy Industries Taxila.

It was subsequently decided to procure at least 20 Serbian Lazar II armoured fighting vehicles. The vehicles were meant to reach the city by December 2012, but could not be purchased due to the lack of interest by the relevant authorities.

“Serbia was the only country that gave us a live demonstration by firing and bombing the vehicle while we were inside,” said the former Sindh police’s DIG Finance Dost Ali Baloch who was a part of the team of experts who visited Serbia. “Besides this, Serbia also offered to deliver the APCs in two phases by the end of December 2013 with the lowest cost worth around Rs1 billion for 20 APCs.”

Meanwhile, police officials said that the Transparency International-Pakistan’s (TIP) reservations regarding the purchase of Lazar II from Serbia caused a delay in buying the vehicles. In September 2013, TIP had sent a reminder to Sindh IGP Shahid Nadeem Baloch and asked him to examine the rules before buying the vehicles.

The Lazar 2 is a multi-purpose 8x8 armoured vehicle in the category of MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected). This vehicle is designed and manufactured by the Serbian Defense Company YugoImport. The Lazar 2 was unveiled for the first time to the public during the Defense Exhibition Partner 2013 which was held in Belgrade from the 25 to 28 June 2013.