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US Urges Taliban to Halt Destruction of Buddhist Statues
The United States on Monday urged the Taliban authority of Afghanistan to halt a controversial plan to destroy all Buddhist statues across the country, including two ancient statues built some 1,500 years ago.
"Afghanistan's ancient statues are an important part of the world's cultural legacy and the cultural heritage of Afghanistan," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a regular news briefing.
"The United States ... joins the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and other governments in urging a halt to the destruction by the Taliban of a significant aspect of Afghans' cultural heritage," he said.
Boucher said the United States had raised the issue directly with the Taliban through Taliban representatives in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Taliban reportedly said on Monday that they had used explosives to begin demolishing the two towering Buddhas at Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
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