Security Forces Attack Divisive Radio Station

A mortar round fired by Pakistani security forces destroyed a radio station, ending broadcasts that had sparked deadly gun battles between armed supporters of two religious factions this week, witnesses said.

The attack on the small FM radio station, during a broadcast, slightly injured 15 people in the northwestern tribal town of Bara, said Mangal Bagh Afridi, a leading supporter of the cleric who had set up the station.

The cleric, Mufti Munir Shakir, translated the Koran into the local Pashto language and discussed issues such as divorce and marital quarrels. He also criticized the beliefs of rival cleric Pir Saifur Rahman, who had also set up an FM station.