PESHAWAR: At least three people were killed and more than 30 others injured on Sunday night in two explosions at a cinema house in the capital of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, DawnNews reported.

The incident took place at Picture House cinema situated in Kabuli Bazaar area of Peshawar.

SP Peshawar city Muhammad Faisal Mukhtar confirmed the incident and the death toll.

“Two powerful explosions killed three people at Picture House cinema. 31 people injured in the incident with three in critical condition,” he said.

Mukhtar said that two home made hand grenades were hurled from back seats of the single screen cinema house where more than 100 people were watching the night show.

A stampede following the blasts was responsible for many of the injuries, he added.

Injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital where an emergency had been imposed.

Jamil Shah, an official at the LRH confirmed that three dead bodies and 31 injured have been brought in the hospital.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said that cinema houses in the city were already under threat.

Peshawar is a frontline city in Pakistan’s battle against Taliban insurgents, who regard films as sinful.

They closed down cinemas in the scenic Swat valley in the country's northwest which they controlled from 2007-2009.

The decline of cinema houses in Peshawar has also been accelerated by the advent of videos, DVDs and the Internet and today only seven remain.

Opinion

Editorial

Missing in action
17 Mar, 2026

Missing in action

NOT exactly known for playing a proactive role in protecting the interests of Muslim nations and populations...
Risk to stability
Updated 17 Mar, 2026

Risk to stability

THE risks to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery from the US-Israel war on Iran cannot be dismissed. Yet the...
Enrolment push
17 Mar, 2026

Enrolment push

THE federal government has embarked upon the welcome initiative to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad...
Holding the line
16 Mar, 2026

Holding the line

PAKISTAN’S long battle against polio has recently produced encouraging signs. Data from the national eradication...
Power self-reliance
Updated 16 Mar, 2026

Power self-reliance

PAKISTAN’S transition to domestic sources of electricity is a welcome development for a country that has long been...
Looking for safety
16 Mar, 2026

Looking for safety

AS the Middle East conflict enters its third week, the war’s most enduring victims are not those who wage it....