Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
KHAR: One of Pakistans most notorious Taliban radio voices, Maulvi Faqir Muhammed, is back on the air after the army raided his stronghold last year and drove him across the border into Afghanistan. Terrorists and their supporters in Pakistan have long used illegal FM radio stations to spread their message and incite violence against the government. Muhammed was one of the most prominent militant radio personalities before the army invaded his enclave early last year in the Bajaur agency, about 200 kilometres northwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Many of the terrorists in Bajaur, including Muhammed, simply slipped across the border into the Kunar province, an area of Afghanistan where the US has largely withdrawn its troops.
Kunar has turned into a staging ground for attacks inside Pakistan, according to the Pakistani army. According to officials, the most recent such assault in Bajaur occurred on Monday when approximately 60 Pakistani Taliban terrorists sent by Muhammed stormed a paramilitary checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Muhammed claimed responsibility for the attack over the Voice of Sharia radio and promised, We will launch more such attacks inside Afghanistan and in Pakistan. Radio is the main connection to the outside world for most tribesmen in Bajaur and other areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border because they cannot afford satellite television dishes, and the infrastructure needed for cable TV is usually nonexistent. Muhammed and his associates transmit for two and a half hours every day beginning at 8pm. Muhammed gives half-hour sermons three times a week, in which he encourages locals to participate in jihad, or holy war, and warns them against cooperating with Pakistani authorities.
His brother, Gul Muhammed, who claims to have been tortured by Pakistans security forces, often rails against the alleged mistreatment of tribesmen by the Pakistani army and Frontier Corps. The station also plays songs praising suicide bombers, even though some radicals, including the Afghan Taliban, have denounced music of any kind. Terrorists from the Swat Valley in the nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are often invited to participate as guest speakers. Their leader, Mullah Fazlullah, was Pakistans most active Taliban radio personality before the army invaded Swat in 2009, earning him the nickname Mullah Radio. He is also believed to be in Kunar, according to the Pakistani army and Bajaur residents, but he has not resurfaced on the radio. ap
KHAR: One of Pakistans most notorious Taliban radio voices, Maulvi Faqir Muhammed, is back on the air after the army raided his stronghold last year and drove him across the border into Afghanistan. Terrorists and their supporters in Pakistan have long used illegal FM radio stations to spread their message and incite violence against the government. Muhammed was one of the most prominent militant radio personalities before the army invaded his enclave early last year in the Bajaur agency, about 200 kilometres northwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Many of the terrorists in Bajaur, including Muhammed, simply slipped across the border into the Kunar province, an area of Afghanistan where the US has largely withdrawn its troops.
Kunar has turned into a staging ground for attacks inside Pakistan, according to the Pakistani army. According to officials, the most recent such assault in Bajaur occurred on Monday when approximately 60 Pakistani Taliban terrorists sent by Muhammed stormed a paramilitary checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Muhammed claimed responsibility for the attack over the Voice of Sharia radio and promised, We will launch more such attacks inside Afghanistan and in Pakistan. Radio is the main connection to the outside world for most tribesmen in Bajaur and other areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border because they cannot afford satellite television dishes, and the infrastructure needed for cable TV is usually nonexistent. Muhammed and his associates transmit for two and a half hours every day beginning at 8pm. Muhammed gives half-hour sermons three times a week, in which he encourages locals to participate in jihad, or holy war, and warns them against cooperating with Pakistani authorities.
His brother, Gul Muhammed, who claims to have been tortured by Pakistans security forces, often rails against the alleged mistreatment of tribesmen by the Pakistani army and Frontier Corps. The station also plays songs praising suicide bombers, even though some radicals, including the Afghan Taliban, have denounced music of any kind. Terrorists from the Swat Valley in the nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are often invited to participate as guest speakers. Their leader, Mullah Fazlullah, was Pakistans most active Taliban radio personality before the army invaded Swat in 2009, earning him the nickname Mullah Radio. He is also believed to be in Kunar, according to the Pakistani army and Bajaur residents, but he has not resurfaced on the radio. ap
