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Video shops closing in Swat

* Bannu police find 500 kgs of explosives in passenger van

MINGORA: Owners of video centres and barbers in several areas of Swat have received threatening letters asking them to wind up their businesses or face the consequences.

Nisar, owner of Nisar Video Centre in Gulab Market, Matta tehsil, closed his business and burnt the CDs and other material in Matta Bazaar on Thursday.

Nisar told Daily Times that the previous night attacks destroyed six CD shops, in addition to damaging nearly two dozen nearby shops and three houses. “Keeping in mind the losses being suffered by locals, I closed down my business and burned the CDs worth thousands of rupees,” he said.

When Daily Times contacted the Matta police station, the officials expressed ignorance about the incident. Unidentified people blew up six CD shops in Ishaq Market and partially damaged 20 nearby shops and three houses late on Wednesday. The owners of CDs shops received threatening letters 15 days ago and several shops at the market were blown up after the expiry of the deadline.

Meanwhile, Online reported that soon after the incident, a meeting presided over by the Swat district coordination officer told all video shop owners in the district to close down their businesses for security reasons. The owners of video centres in Matta told the meeting that they would close their businesses for good if the administration or the people sending them the threatening letters provided them with an alternative source of income.

Barbers in Matta tehsil have also been threatened to wind up their business within 15 days or face a similar fate. The threatening letters contain the words “Taliban Zindabad” at the end, but there is no reference to the organisation that had issued the letters.

Separately, the army deployed at the Saidu Sharif Airport has been withdrawn and sent to Timargara. The troops had been deployed in the area soon after the military operation against Jamia Hasfa to counter a possible public reaction to the operation. In another incident, the Bannu police seized 500 kilogrammes of explosives from a passenger van and arrested the driver, Wali Ayaz, APP reported. staff report

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