PESHAWAR, Dec 10: With the fall of the Taliban government in Kabul, the activities of listening music and watching movies have increased in Afghanistan, a country ravaged by war for the past two decades.

The demand for entertainment stuff has grown so much that the existing stock at audio-video shops in Peshawar have fallen short of the demand.

“The demand for audio, video cassettes and CDs of music and movies has gone up by 60 per,” said Shah Jehan, a shopkeeper on the city’s Cinema Road.

He said: “We have ordered the dealers in Lahore and Karachi to send more supplies.”

The Taliban had prohibited all types of entertainment including music, TV, theatre and even kite-flying. The ministry of vice and virtue constituted to strictly implement order of the Taliban supreme leader, Mulla Mohammad Omar and fixed severe punishments for violators.

Shopkeepers told Dawn that they were receiving fresh orders from Afghanistan for Indian, English movies and Persian audio cassettes in the recent days. However, Pakistani movies including Urdu and Pushto have not gained substantial market so far.

A dealer, Haji Akbar Khan, said he had been running this business for the last 14 years, but he had never seen such a large-scale business.