Pakistani tribal militants in Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan are showing a strong tendency to the previously imposed Taliban rules.

A group of 50 hooded and armed vigilantes, who call themselves mujahedeen (fighters), smashed confiscated video cassettes from local shops and demanded an end to vice and adherence to Islamic practices on Friday.

In a show of force, tribal militant's paraded men accused of selling illegal drugs through a bazaar in Pakistan's lawless border region with Afghanistan.

According to witnesses, the militants told Muslims in Khar, the main town in the deeply conservative Bajaur tribal district, to get ready for jihad (holy war) because Muslims were facing a "critical situation."

Muslims staged protests across Pakistan on Friday to speak out against army raids on a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad during which at least 75 people, mostly militants, were killed.

The Bajaur area is a stronghold for pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who sneaked in after the fall of Taliban in 2001.

Taliban banned music and shaving of beards under its ultra-strict interpretation of Islam.

HJF/KB