ISLAMABAD, 19 March 2007 — A bomb exploded at a music market in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, wounding two men, police said.
The pre-dawn explosion on Kohat Road in the city of Peshawar — close to the border with Afghanistan — also damaged five shops selling music and movies, police officer Salim Khan said.
Khan would not speculate on who may have been behind the blast, saying only that police are investigating.
A source told Arab News pro-Taleban militants have threatened to attack government buildings and vital installations on or before March 23, when the country will be celebrating its National Day.
Shops selling movies and music are a frequent target of attacks and threats by extremists in the rugged tribal regions who consider them un-Islamic.
Foreign and tribal militants suspected of links with Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan’s Taleban militia are believed to operate in rugged tribal regions along the North West Frontier Province, of which Peshawar is the capital. The militants have previously attacked music shops and threatened barbers, reminiscent of the Taleban’s hard-line regime in Afghanistan. The bomb at the market in Peshawar was hidden in a can used for cooking oil, Khan said. The blast wounded a security guard and a passerby and shattered the windows of five shops, he said.
