WANA, Feb 6: About two dozen armed men have warned barbers and music centre owners here to close down their business as shaving beards and listening to music were un-Islamic, sources and eyewitnesses said on Friday.

The armed men, who were riding vehicles, alsocollected cassettes from music shops and broke them, besides thrashing the shop owners and some barbers who defied their warnings.

The shopkeepers closed the business and shifted valuables to safer places outside the bazaars, while the gunmen continued patrolling in the bazaars throughout Thursday and Friday.

Reports reaching here from across the border said that the allied forces had started extraordinary movement in the Afghan territory and gunship helicopters continued air surveillance in the border areas.

Sources said that these gunmen made announcements in the bazaars in Wana and Azam Warsak, warning the people on Thursday and Friday against listing to music and making shave. They also warned music shop owners and barbers to close down their businesses as music and making shave were against Shariat.

The gunmen also broke the mirrors in the barbers' shops and collected cassettes from music shops to break in the open.

The sources said that when the local political authorities asked the shopkeepers to open their shops, they refused to do so asking the administration that they would not do so unless foolproof security was provided to them.

When the Assistant Political Agent Wana Rehmatullah Wazir was contacted, he denied any such activity was taking place in the tribal areas. Sources said that the authorities had again asked the nine sub-tribes to Ahmadzai Wazir to hand over the wanted tribesmen within four days.