Illegal broadcasts: Mangal Bagh running FM radio from Afghanistan

Transmission include propaganda against Pakistan, threats to FATA tribesmen

PESHAWAR: The head of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) militant group has been operating an illegal FM channel out of Afghanistan. His broadcasts have also been heard in some parts of Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

According to Afghan sources, Mangal Bagh’s channel ‘Da Haq Awaz’ (Voice of the Right) is being transmitted from somewhere in the southeast Nazyan district of Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.

The FM broadcast has also been heard in a few pockets of Chora Valley in Tirah Valley and some localities of Bara tehsil.

Mangal Bagh runs his FM radio transmission for a few hours in the evening and at night. The broadcasts are focused on propaganda against Pakistan, in particular the country’s security forces.

Every now and then, the LeI chief and his aides also use the illegal channel to issue threats to local tribal elders who have taken a stand against militancy and terrorism in the region.

Wahid Shah Afridi, general secretary of the Awami National Party for Bara Khyber Agency, said the security forces periodically block Mangal Bagh’s FM channel.

However, he added, the LeI leader’s broadcasts are heard in Maidan and several other parts of Bara in Tirah Valley.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2015.