Militants had earlier warned shopkeepers selling music and video CDs to shut their businesses, saying there was "no room for music in Islam."
(PPF/IFEX) – Five people were killed and over two dozen injured in a bomb explosion on Monday September 19, 2011 that targeted a music and video compact disks market in Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber-Pakhtunkhuwa province of Pakistan.
Officials of the bomb disposal unit (BDU) said around 10 kilograms of explosive were planted in a motorbike parked outside Grace Market, which houses many video and music CD shops. The explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device at around 9 p.m.
The blast completely destroyed 20 shops and partially destroyed 10. It also damaged a number of vehicles passing through the area and triggered a fire. Grace Market is located in the part of town that has a concentration of over 300 music and video shops. Another building in this area was bombed on October 9, 2007.
Safdar Hayat Dawar, president of the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ), told PPF that a few months ago militants warned the shopkeepers selling music and video CDs to shut their businesses, saying there was “no room for music in Islam.”
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants have bombed music shops in several cities and towns of the province in the past.