Pakistani Taleban militants Thursday gave music shop owners and drug dealers a 10-day deadline to close down or face the consequences, local officials and residents said. Using megaphones, the rebels drove through Mir Ali town in the semi-autonomous tribal region of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan to deliver the chilling warning, they said. The ultimatum came a day after three people were wounded and around two dozen shops destroyed by bombs planted at music shops in conservative northwestern Pakistan. “Drugs and music shops are destroying the tribal culture. We will not allow this conspiracy in our area,” Miranshah shopkeeper Enayat Khan quoted the Taliban as saying. “We will follow their order. We don't want to take the risk, we will change our business to survive,” another shopkeeper said, requesting not to be identified. Local administration officials confirmed the announcement. They said they gave a similar deadline to tribesmen to stop selling opium, alcohol and hashish in the lawless region. Militants blew up some two dozen video and music shops in the region's main town Miranshah after the expiry of another deadline this week. Militants have bombed dozens of entertainment shops in the region in recent years. Meanwhile, police raided a suspected militant hideout in a city in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, triggering a shootout that wounded one police driver and one militant.
