Tehreek - e - Nafaz - e - Shariat - e - Mohammadi Tehreek - e - Nafaz - e - Shariat - e - Mohammadi ( TNSM , ) is a Pakistani militant group whose objective is to enforce Sharia law in the country . The rebel group took over much of Swat in 2007 . It was founded by Sufi Muhammad in 1992 , and was banned by President Pervez Musharraf on January 12 , 2002 . The organization is active in the areas along the Pakistan - Afghanistan border , especially Swat and Malakand but including Dargai and Chenagai . It supports the Taliban forces in neighbouring Afghanistan . It has been described as " one of the most dangerous religious militant groups in Pakistan . " When the founder was imprisoned on January 15 , 2002 , Maulana Fazlullah , his son - in - law , assumed leadership of the group . Sufi Muhammad was freed in 2008 after he renounced violence . Characteristics . TNSM militia members are " identified by their shoulder - length hair and camouflage vests over traditional shalwar kameez clothing " , according to a 2007 Associated Press report . Numerous non - native militants have been recruited to work with the group from elsewhere in North Waziristan , many of them originally from outside Pakistan , including Afghans and Arabs . Enforcement of Sharia . As part of what it sees as enforcement of Sharia law , the group has bombed girls schools and blown up video and CD shops . Fazlullah has also used his FM broadcasts to urge schoolgirls to wear all - covering burqas and has forced the closure of some development organizations , accusing them of spreading immorality by employing female staff . History . Origins . The group was founded by Sufi Muhammad in 1992 after he left Jamaat - e - Islami , in which he was an active leader . 1994 Malakand Division Revolt . Sufi Muhammad fomented an insurrection in Malakand Division ( Dir , Swat , Bajaur , Chitral ) on the basis of a demand for Sharia law . The uprising was quashed by the Pakistan military but not before TNSM had brought the Dir and Swat under its control . Timergara was besieged by government artillery and fighting was particularly intense in Swat . It is alleged that while under TNSM control , drivers were forced to switch to driving on the right side of the road , which resulted in many accidents . 2001 – 2002 . Sufi Muhammad was jailed in November for sending thousands of volunteers to Afghanistan to fight the U . S . - led invasion in 2001 . During his imprisonment , Muhammad ' s son - in - law Maulana Fazlullah , known as " Mullah Radio " for his pirate FM station broadcasts , led TNSM . President Pervez Musharraf banned the group on January 12 , 2002 . 2005 . After a brief decline , the group experienced a revival in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake . Radio broadcasts reinforced local beliefs that the earthquake was a punishment for sins , and local inhabitants of the region destroyed electronic equipment , such as televisions and computers , in response . 2007 . In July 2007 , the group took over much of the Swat District and held on to it as late as November , when Pakistani forces ousted Maulana Fazlullah and his followers from a large base in the village of Imam Dheri . The stronghold , eight kilometres from the valley ' s main town of Mingora in Kabal Union Council of northwestern Swat , was guarded by about 200 rebel fighters . An Associated Press reporter who visited the base in October 2007 described it as a concrete complex near the village . " Inside is a mosque and a maze of dozens of rooms , many still under construction . A shop sells audio cassettes of speeches by Fazlullah . " Although the seminary hadn ' t opened for students , it was drawing thousands of worshippers for Friday prayers , residents told the Associated Press . Fazlullah ' s spokesman , Sirajuddin , then based at the seminary , is a gray - bearded militant who goes by only one name . About 250 militants died in two weeks of fighting in late November , during which the two - square - kilometer base was bombarded by artillery , according to Pakistani authorities . People in a number of towns destroyed the fortified bunkers the rebels , including Fazlullah and Sirajuddin , had left behind as the militants retreated into the mountains . Collaboration with the TTP . In the aftermath of the 2007 siege of Lal Masjid , Fazlullah ' s forces and Baitullah Mehsud ' s Tehrik - i - Taliban Pakistan ( TTP ) formed an alliance . Fazlullah and his army reportedly received orders from Mehsud . Attacks on Buddhist sculptures . On October 8 , 2007 members of the TNSM group used dynamite to obliterate the face of the 23 foot high colossal image of a seated Buddha carved in c . 7th century CE into a reddish rock face on a hillside to the southwest of the village of Jehanabad ( Shakhorai ) near Manglawar in Swat district . According to Aqleem Khan , an archaeology department official of North Western Frontier Province who spoke to Reuters , the members of this group drilled holes into the rock , filled them with dynamite , then set off the explosion on October 9 , 2007 morning . 2008 . Sufi Muhammad was released after he renounced violence in discussion with the provincial government . Eight leaders of TNSM signed a peace agreement that recognized the provincial government ' s sovereignty , urged an end to violence and declared attacks against police , military and government targets " un - Islamic . " 2009 . As of January 2009 Tehreek - e - Nafaz - e - Shariat - e - Mohammadi had established Shariah courts , that " openly administer punishment to people who dared to violate their strict code of conduct " in a region extending " from Matta sub - division in upper Swat valley to Kabal sub - division close the main Mingora town . " Campaign against female education . A January 21 , 2009 issue of the Pakistan daily newspaper " The News " , reported Taliban enforcement of a complete ban on female education in the Swat district . Some 400 private schools enrolling 40 , 000 girls were forced to close . At least 10 girls schools that tried to open after the January 15 , 2009 deadline by the Fazlullah - led Taliban were destroyed by the militants in the town of Mingora , the headquarters of the Swat district . Over the past 14 months " more than 170 schools have been bombed or torched , along with other government - owned buildings . " Maulvi Omar , a spokesman for the Tehrik - i - Taliban Pakistan ( TTP ) , urged the Fazlullah - led Swati Taliban to rethink the ban on female education . Muslim Khan , a spokesman for the Swati Taliban responded that the TTP had not formally requested an overturn of the ban and that his group would continue as planned . However , Khan announced in a phone call to the " Gulf News " on January 28 , 2009 that his group would reconsider the ban on education for women in consultation with religious scholars once conflict had ended in the area . He stated , " We are not against education , but we insist that our new generation should be imparted with religious and then scientific and technology education . The Taliban need doctors , engineers and scientists to strengthen our cause . " This is also being noticed now that taliban have began to target Pakistani scientists and engineers of the strategic organizations . Sharia Nizam - i - Adl Regulation 2009 . The Pakistani government announced on February 16 , 2009 that it would allow Sharia law in the Malakand region . In return , Fazlullah ' s followers agreed to observe a ceasefire negotiated by Sufi Muhammad . On February 24 , 2009 Muslim Khan publicly announced that the Swati Taliban would observe an indefinite ceasefire . End of negotiations . In early April 2009 Sufi Muhammad ended support for peace negotiations stating that the government had stalled the implementation of sharia courts in the Swat valley . President Asif Ali Zardari refused to sign any agreement until peace had been restored in the valley but failed to elaborate on how those conditions would be achieved . At the strong recommendation of the National Assembly President Zardari signed the agreement , the Sharia Nizam - i - Adl Regulation 2009 , on April 13 , 2009 . A spokesman for Sufi Muhammad , Amir Izzat Khan , stated that the law would allow for peace in the Swat region and that the Taliban was in the process of disarmament . Muslim Khan added that an " Islamic syllabus " would be instituted in schools and that women would not be allowed to go to jobs or to markets so as not to become " show - pieces . " Destruction of headquarters . In June 2009 , Pakistani security forces bombed and destroyed the Imam Dheri compound that served as Fazlullah ' s headquarters . The compound had contained residences , a mosque , court and prison .