A powerful bomb blast in Mardan town of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Thursday damaged 10 shops and a bank, though no one was injured.

The explosive device planted close to the CD market at PRC Chowk in Mardan was detonated by remote control by unidentified persons at 6 am.

The police rushed to the site soon after the blast and cordoned off the area, the state-run APP news agency reported.

District Nazim Himayatullah Khan Mayar and senior police officials visited the site and held a meeting with representatives of the shop-owners. He assured them that they would be compensated by the local government.

Caretaker provincial health minister Syed Kamal Shah also visited the blast site and said terrorists would be dealt with severely.

He assured the shopkeepers that the government would make foolproof security arrangements to prevent the recurrence of such attacks.

Militants in NWFP have carried a string of bomb attacks on shops selling music and video CDs, which they say are against Islam and should be banned.