These religious parties, a coalition of which now heads the provincial government in the North West Frontier Province, were politically marginalized until given a central role by Pakistan's military dictator of the 1980's, General Zia ul Haq, who led Pakistan's covert intervention in the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Throughout his rule, religion-based politics grew along with the number of madrassahs and fighters trained and equipped by Pakistani and US intelligence agencies.
这些宗教党派（它们的一个联盟现在主导着西北边疆省政府）在被20世纪80年代的军事独裁者齐亚哈克将军赋予中心化的角色之前，一直处于政治边缘化的状态。齐亚哈克领导了对阿富汗抗击前苏联的战争的秘密干预。在他统治期间，以宗教为基础的政治长足发展，同时宗教学校和由巴基斯坦及美国的情报部门训练和装备的战士的数量也有所增加。