Darra Adam Khel

Pakistani bazaar town near Peshawar, known for workshops devoted to handmade firearms

Darra Adam Khel is one of the more unusual attractions in Pakistan — a small bazaar town whose entire economy revolves around a single trade: making guns. Located in the Tribal Areas, 40 kilometres south of Peshawar on the road to Kohat, it is a drive of about 40 minutes.

The town is lined with small workshops openly producing copies of almost every weapon imaginable — AK-47s, pistols, rocket launchers — alongside bullets sold by the cartridge. Shopkeepers invite visitors in to inspect (and buy) their wares. Visitors can pay to fire weapons at a range. It is noisy, chaotic, and extraordinary. See the gun bazaar page for more. The road in from Kohat now passes through the modern Kohat Tunnel under the Khigana ridge.

Note that the area carries genuine risk. The government's effective control is limited. Check current advisories carefully before visiting.

Guide

Getting There

Take a minibus from Peshawar to Darra Adam Khel (around 10 Rs, about 1 hour). At Darra you must leave the bus at the checkpoint. To visit the gun factories, foreigners are officially required to obtain a permit from the Home Secretary of NWFP, whose office is in the Civil Secretariat on Police Road in Peshawar. In practice, access arrangements vary.

Guide

Things to Do

There is essentially one thing to do in Darra Adam Khel: walk the bazaar of gun workshops that runs along the main road through the town. The other landmarks in the area — the tunnel that pierces the Khigana ridge, the satellite village of Akhorwal — are passed in transit rather than visited.