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About the Service

Radio Mashaal engages Pashto-speaking audiences, especially youth, targeted by the Taliban and militant groups since 2010. 

Available via SW and AM radio, web, satellite, and social media. 

Call-in shows mitigate audiences’ isolation by providing a bridge between residents and their political representatives. 

Launched the podcast “Na Wailee Khabare,” which means “discussion of taboo subjects.” 

An investigative team uncovered kidnapping, forced conversion, and forced marriages of underage Hindu girls in Pakistan. 

Counters extremist public health propaganda, informing Pakistan’s remote communities about the importance of polio eradication campaigns. 

Released a documentary about women resisting discrimination and thriving in education, employment, and sports. 

Over one million people followed Radio Mashaal’s coverage when Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from office in 2022. 

Investigated attacks against Chinese workers in Pakistan by separatist militants. 

Reaching Audiences

Media Climate

Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Pakistan 150th out of 180 countries.  

Government closed Radio Mashaal’s Islamabad bureau and blocked websites in 2018. 

Awards

Youth Action Committee

Youth Action Committee honored reporter Samad Shabnam for coverage of a flood-affected remote area. 

Media Center

Latest Updates

RFE/RL Relaunches Gandhara Website As One-Stop Shop For Afghanistan, Pakistan News

Since its inception in 2014, Gandhara has reflected the mission and journalistic standards of RFE/RL in its reporting and analysis about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal Marks 10 Years Of Countering Extremism In Pakistan

Ten years since airing its first two-hour broadcast, RFE/RL’s Pashto-language service has stubbornly pursued its mission to provide an alternative to extremist propaganda.

RFE/RL Reporters 2017

RFE/RL Reporters Faced ‘Relentless Pressure’ In 12 Of 23 Countries In 2017

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalists have been targeted in no fewer than 38 incidents in at least 12 of the countries they cover in 2017.

Service Director

Amin Mudaqiq

Amin Mudaqiq is the Service Director of RFE/RL’s Pashto-language service to Pakistan’s tribal regions, known locally as Radio Mashaal. He previously served as Kabul Bureau chief for RFE/RL’s Afghan Service from 2004-2011. Prior to joining RFE/RL, Mudaqiq worked in the US consulate in Peshawar as an Information Assistant, and as editor of Ittilaat, the U.S. government’s Dari/Pashto publication.

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