PESHAWAR: The Pakistan government is set to launch FM radio stations in all seven tribal agencies with an apparent plan of disseminating information to counter militant propaganda in the militancy-hit area bordering Afghanistan.

In a statement issued here, the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) secretariat said that a central production house will also be set up at the secretariat.

Additional Chief Secretary Fata, Azam Khan has directed the authorities to make arrangements for setting up the radio stations in all tribal agencies of Fata.

The decision came against the backdrop of ongoing military offensives against local and foreign militants in the northwestern tribal regions of North Waziristan and Khyber.

Militant oraganisations use local radio stations to propagate their agenda besides threatening rivals.

Commander Mangal Bagh of Lashkar-i-Islam has been using radio stations to broadcast his fiery speeches despite the ongoing Khyber-I military operation in the area.

Bagh is not the only militant commander to have used the tactic as current chief of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mullah Fazlullah became famous for his fiery radio speeches in Swat Valley before Pakistani armed forces pushed him and other accomplices out of the valley through targeted operations. He was once known as “FM Mullah” or “Mullah Radio”.