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Giant Buddhas Completely Destroyed by Taliban
The Taliban religious militia has now completely demolished two giant statues of Buddha hewn from a cliff face in central Afghanistan, international aid workers said Sunday, despite desperate pleas from abroad to spare the third- and fifth-century relics.
The destruction was ordered late last month by the Taliban, hard-line Muslims who rule most of Afghanistan and say statues are idolatrous. Despite the international outcry, the Taliban appeared Sunday to have carried out their plan.
Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan during a meeting Sunday in neighboring Pakistan that there was nothing left of the statues, according to an international aid worker who attended the talks.
The destruction was confirmed by Taliban officials in southern Afghanistan and by an aid worker who said his information came from Afghan witnesses in the area.
It has been impossible to verify the reports independently because the Taliban have refused to allow anyone in the Bamiyan Valley area, where the statues stood.
On Saturday, the Taliban had said the statues, measuring 170 feet and 120 feet, were 80% destroyed.
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