Some independent journalists put the number of illegal FM radio stations close to 130 in the province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Source in the Pakistan's Interior Ministry in Islamabad put the number of such illegal FM radio stations at 115 in the Frontier province and tribal areas of Pakistan.

According to an official list obtained by this reporter, district Swabi in the Frontier province has the greatest number of pirate FM radio stations, 28, followed by 14 in Malakand Agency and 11 in Mardan district.

An exact figure about the number of illegal FM radio stations is not available because most of them are operating in the far-flung areas. Similarly, no research or media mapping of this new and fast-growing phenomenon has been done so far. There are different versions about the number of these stations.

Among the seven tribal agencies along the Afghan border, Bajure Agency has six, Khyber Agency has five, Mohmand Agency two and Orakzai agency has one illegal FM radio stations.

"If a small district has 28 illegal FM radio stations, then just imagine about rest of the province and the tribal belt," an official in the interior ministry said.

However, officials in the Pakistan Media Regulation Authority ( PEMRA) – the media watch, put the number of illegal FM radio stations at 108.

"There are about 108 illegal FM radio stations operating in various parts of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan along the Afghan border," officials in the regional office of the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said.

"We got this list of 108 illegal FM Radio channels from police stations across the province", an official in the Peshawar office said, requesting anonymity.

"There has been no research carried out on the issue, so the number of the stations is not known. said Professor Altafullah Khan of Journalism Department at Peshawar University, who is pursuing his post-doctorate research on the illegal FM Radio stations in Pakistan's Frontier Province and Tribal belt along the Afghan border.

Transmitters: their range of signals, and the cost

For an illegal radio station in a mosque or madrassa, you just need a Radiator-shapped transmitter, an amplifier and a car-battery – that's it. It’s easy and cheap to set up an FM channel. Equipments are easily available in the local market.

Local engineers say that setting up an FM channel can cost from $500 to $1,000—depending on transmitter quality.

According to operators and PEMRA officials, signals of most illegal FM channels work within a 25-30 km range. However, some powerful FM transmitters have listeners even beyond 40 km and in some cases beyond 50 km.

Frequencies

These radio channels use FM band for propagation of their broadcasts, which can be tuned by any conventionally available FM band receiver with a frequency range of 88-108 MHz.

These channels have not been allocated frequencies by the Pakistani Frequency Allocation Board (FAB). They just start their broadcast on a local FM frequency that suits them and is convenient for listeners.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that in some areas illegal FM radio stations operate at frequencies reserved for security agencies and police, jeopardizing the communication systems of police and other security agencies.

The radio outlets: an outgrowth of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan

The cheap FM radio technology came first to the Bajaur tribal Agency during the US invasion on Afghanitan's Taliban regim in the wake of September 11 attacks in 2001.

It was in late 2001 when in Bajure Agency, bordering the volatile Kunar Province of Afghanitan where U.S troops have been facing tough resistance from teh resurgents Taliban, local clerics of several seminaries established their own FM radio stations and effectively used these channels for the support of the Taliban and against the U.S invasion on Taliban regime.

And that was the reason that about ten thousands tribesmen went to "Jihad" against the US and its western allied forces in Afghanistan from Bajaur tribal Agency and its adjancet areas.

Motivated by local clerics, interestingly, many of them went to Afghanistan with their swards owing to their passion for "martyrdom."

According to tribal sources, the Bajaur political authorities in January 2002 arrested two persons Engineer Bashir Ahmad and his colleague Juma Gul, who were experts in the installation of radio transmitters and were accused of seting up such illegal Radio Stations in the border region.

In the following years, this easily available cheap technology was installed by several seminaries mostly run by Tehrik Nifaz-i-Sharit-i-Mohammadi (Movement for the implementation of Sharia) -- a radical movment led by the Sufi Mohammad, father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah.

Soon, the FM radio were established by two rival radical clerics – Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman – in the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency.

The spread of illegal radio channels came to the limelight in 2005 when followerthe followers of the two sectarian groups clashed with each other over the issue of propagating their thoughts through these illegal FM frequencies.

Who owns/operates these stations/from where do they transmit?

The majority of the operators are influential mullahs (religious scholars) in their respective areas. Most of them broadcast in the far-flung district of the Frontier province. However, some of them have also been broadcasting in the suburb of Peshawar, capital of conservative and volatile North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Some of them are run by current and ex-members of the Parliament who belong to the pro-Taliban religious party, Jammiat Ulma-e-Islam.

For example, an FM radio station is run by Maulana Mohammad Qasim, member of Parliament, from his madrassa in his native town of Shergarh, district Marian, some 80 in north of Peshawar.

Due to these illegal FM radio stations, these local mullahs have created their own "personality cults" because of their large listenership.

Charsadda is a town less than 30 km from the capital city of Peshawar. A local religious scholar, Maulana Abdullah Shah, has been running his FM channel for more than two years now in his mosque.

"Maulana Abdullah Shah is more popular and influential here than politicians and minister", Hamid Ali, a school teacher in Charsadda.

"Even leading politicians from the area come and take his consent on certain issues—all because of his influential FM radio stations which is hugely popular among local people," said Ali.

Besides, another famous illegal FM channel is run by Maulana Mohammad Tayyab in Panjpir village of District Swabi. His family has a strong political hold in the area.

More importantly, the use of such illegal FM radio stations by two rival sectarian groups in the Khyber Tribal Agency has triggered bloody clashes between the two groups which left scores dead and the strife is still going on. This all started due to the use of FM radios when two rival mullahs incited their followers against each others some three years ago. Still there is no sign of peace in the region—many local people put blame on the use of the illegal FM channels by the mullahs.

Preaching extremism, Jihad and suicide bombing

Background investigations revealed that all such illegal radio stations primarily target the local communities in villages and towns of rural areas with the apparent aim of Dars-e-Qur'an (translation and interpretation of holy Quran) and promoting Islamic education and values. Majority of these illegal FM radio stations are predominantly religious with the supposedly singular objective of teaching the holy Qur'an and other teaching of Islam to the masses at the grass roots level.

While some stations clearly call for jihad and attacks in Afghanistan, most Pakistani experts and listeners insist most of the outlets are dedicated to teaching the holy Qura'an. Some of the local experts dispel the impression that these radio stations promote extremism and preach jihad.

"The rash generalization of every religious content into a hate/extremism content is unfair. Religious teaching (Quran/Hadtih) is a very old tradition in the Pukhtoon society. Extremism is a new phenomenon. If this is caused by religious teachings it would have been part of the cultural milieu for centuries. Fortunately this is not the case," said Professor Altafullah Khan, who is teaching mass communication at Peshawar University.

"Similarly, I don't think there are any who preach suicide bombing or recruiting of such bombers", Khan said – a claim at odds with the facts.

Background interviews revealed that some of these pirate radio channels have been found going beyond their stated objective of translation of Holy Quran and teaching of Islama.

For example, Maulana Fazlullah in the Swat valley who later became known as "FM Mullah," used his radio station to call for jihad against president Pervez Musharraf, President Karzai and US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. At times, he even threatened on his FM channels of carrying out suicide attacks against the Pakistani forces—a phenomenon which has been increasing in the last two years or so.

"Fazlullah is pretty popular here because of his FM channel and preaching of jihad is one the top of his broadcast contents," said Mehboob Ali, a local journalist in Swat valley, the latest front in the country's war against extremism where Pakistani troops have been at loggerheads with the local militants loyal to Fazullah.

"A long tirade against the United States, its military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and call for jihad against the U.S and its allies have always been permanent features of his FM sermons", Ali said.

Similarly, some other FM channels in the suburb of Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Mohmand Agency etc have been found giving inflammatory sermons in support of the Taliban, opposing Musharraf and Karzia as puppets of the United States and against the operations against al-Qaeda fugitives in the tribal areas along Afghan border and the US occupation of Afghanistan. These mullahs openly support the “resistance” against the U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq ad ask Muslims to liberate all those parts of the Muslim world which have been "occupied" by the United States.

Just two weeks ago, in one of his inflammatory speech, Maulana Fazlullah asked the Muslim to get united against what he called U.S imperialism. He asked people to come forward for jihad and fight against the infidels and their local supporters.

Similarly, Mangal Bagh in the Khyber Agency is not part of the local Taliban but he is openly supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and calls it a "Holy War" on his FM channel.

Another FM radio station in Khyber Tribal Agencies has also been found of preaching jihad against the US/NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Haji Namdar, the pioneer of the FM radio technology in Khyber Agency, is an open supporter of the Taliban and al-Qaed in Khyber Agency and has been calling for jihad against the U.S led forces in Afghanistan.

After coming back from Saudi Arabia in late 2003, he established his own organization named Amr bil maroof wa nahi anil munkir, borrowing the name from the Afghan Taliban's "Suppression of Vice and Promotion of Virtue."

Soon, he established his own FM channel in Khyber Agency-- just half an hour from Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province.

He placed a ban on music and he even established his own private jails with names such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to punish those who defied his orders.

Tribal officials issued directives for the closure of these radio stations, but these fell on deaf ears. He escaped a missile attack on June 30 which left seven of his followers dead. Reportedly, it was a NATO missile attack on his compound from across the border in Afghanistan.

Listenership/prime times of broadcast

It's hard to say which one has the greatest number of listeners. All of them are popular among local people in their respective areas.

Most of these broadcast starts at evening time when all the people are back to home from the jobs/ work places.

Evening broadcast timing is from one hour to two hours. It starts soon after Maghrib (sunset) prayer and goes on till Esha (night) prayer.

"Evening is the right time for our broadcast because we do it for the benefit of common people and that's the only ripe time when everybody is easily available for listening- men are back from their jobs and women are free from their cooking and domestic stuff," said Khadim Shah, an illegal FM operator in Charsadda.

He said, "We also do it briefly in the morning but that's not the popular time—our prime time starts at the sunset." Women are the biggest beneficiaries of our radio broadcast", Shah said. According to interviews in rural areas and villages, such illegal radio stations are very popular among women folk. In many areas, all members of the family – men, women and children, all set together and listen to the sermons on their radios.

Community based radio/interaction

Many of these pirated Radio stations work like community based radio stations where local people directly participate in their programs.

For example, people send their questions through letters asking for opinion about a certain religious.

The religious scholars (mullah) give answers to those questions through his FM channel.

In some areas, people directly go and ask live questions from the Mullah about certain issues and then he answer those questions lively from his studio, based in mosque or madrassa.

Government control/confiscation/jamming

PEMRA officials say all illegal radio stations are being broadcasts by religious people from mosque and seminaries; it's always been a sensitive issue to confiscate or take any action against them.

According to PEMRA officials, so far they have confiscated 162 illegal FM radio stations in various parts of the Frontier Province in the last two year. However, they say, it's hard to stop their re-surfacing.

"Such FM channels have acute tendency of resurfacing with the support of local community both in financial and moral terms because of the cheap and easy availability of equipments for establishing such pirated stations", said Javed Iqbal, a senior official of the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority.

Experts say the only solution to this growing menace is jamming the illegal broadcasts, not confiscation of equipment.

"Jamming is possible and seems to be the only effective way, since the number of these illegal radio stations is not known," said Professor Altafullah Khan.

However, officials at the PEMRA said that they lack such a technology to jam these radio stations.

"We don't have technology we can use for jamming the operation of an illegal radio station," said Aurangzeb Khan, provincial inspector at PEMRA, regional office at Peshawar. " I don't know much but I heard it’s a very expensive to jam FM devices and that's why so far we lack such a facility," said Khan. He said that they only conduct raid on illegal radio stations only after getting instructions from its headquarters in Islamabad and with the help of local police. "It's really hard to confiscate an illegal FM channel involving a lot of risk", said Khan, saying, "Most of the operators are influential and usually they don't give up easily."

"However, the biggest challenge is the resurfacing of these stations and that's why are our efforts are not sustained," Khan said. "It's pretty cheap and easy to install such radio station in a mosque or madrassa."

However, Pakistan Media Regulation Authority ( PEMRA) – the media watchdog, is only operating in the settled areas of the country and has yet not extended to the tribal belt. Political Agent, the high government official in a tribal agency, is the only authority that can take action against illegal radio stations.

Many blame the apparent government policy of inaction and delaying tactics as the main reasons for the skyrocketing growth of these illegal stations.

"The government has been making tall claims of success and achievements in the so-called war on terror, but its completely unable to stop the menace of illegal FM channels in tribal areas and the frontier province — it's a big shame,” said Latif Afridi, a tribal elder and Pashtoon nationalist politician from the Khyber Tribal Agency.

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One of the warlord radio mullah's in Pakistan, Maulana Fazlullah in Swat in the NWFP, stands out for his calls to jihad and anti-U.S./western rants -- all the more because his radio station is now a Pakistani government-authorized radio outlet.

While more than 100 mullah-run radio stations in the FATA and NWFP operate illegally, as did Fazlullah's station until recently, the Pakistani government in late May made a "peace deal" with Fazlullah that, among other things, specifically authorized him to continue with his (incendiary) radio broadcasts.

Here are translated excerpts from one of Fazlullah's (tamer) broadcasts this month:

With the name of Allah the most Merciful, By the grace of Allah, all mosques and madrassas ( religious seminaries) are centers of Islam. Rather, they are forts of Islam. The more you people spend your times in mosques and madraassah the more you will be satisfied and happy. Spend your time in the way of Allah to make it special. The best way to spend your time in the way of Allah is to join sincere mujahideens (holy warriors) who are fighting in the way of Allah with the core of their hearts and full determination. Let me make it clear to you people, if you want to become a holy warrior, then become a sincere and dedicated holy warrior, not a hypocrite holy warrior. Once you become a sincere and dedicated holy warrior, then you will feel the satisfaction, honor and pride. Allah-O-Akbar (Allah is Great) So, join and help all those people who are fighting in the way of Allah for the supremacy of Islam-- irrespective of the nature of the group and organization and its leadership. The only thing which matters is sincerity of the mission and that is the top priority. All those organization working and fighting for the supremacy of Islam are right and they should be helped. The supremacy of Islam is the top priority and everything else is secondary.

From the prophet Muhammad ( Peace Be Upon Him) to the Mullah Mohamamd Omar in Afghanistan, Muslims have a rich history of sacrifices for the implementation of Sharia (Islam). Just few years ago in Afghanistan Mullah Mohammand Omar (May Allah protect him) led his people and establish a true Islamic society in Afghanistan-- that is the best example of leadership. If the United States wants to bring peace to Afghanistan, why not bring peace to its own country, why not in UK and why not in other parts of the Western world? Today, United States has been experiencing the worst lawlessness and people are resorting to suicide because of lack of mental peace. Why not bring peace to its own country and its own people? Charity begins at home. We should realize and understand that we will get Allah's help once we are on the right path. Then we should not worry from the United States and UK because we will have divine help. It is very sad that today our Pakistani government is arresting all those who are observing their religious duties like offering prayers and keeping beards on the charges of al-Qaeda members-- this is truly sad. Looking at the deteriorating situation of Swat, army was sent to restore peace but in fact they destroyed it. All my followers should consult the shura (council) before taking any action, and they will be responsible for any such action carried on their own. Pervez Musharraf has been killing its own people on the behest of US, that's why peace cannot be restored to the country. I assure you people that we can defeat American and the western forces if we follow Islamic teaching in its true spirit. Nobody can defeat us if we follow our religion. Today the Western world is coming and talking about bringing peace to Afghanistan. It's all impossible and all this is a drama. The westerners oppress the bearded Muslims in the name of Al-Qaeda. Everybody here knows that Islam has given more rights to women than other religion of the world. It is Islam that gives a right of sister, daughter, wife and mother to a woman. But on the other hand in America and Britain people send their parents to centers for the old people because they can't serve them. It’s a shame!