Destroyed Buddha Statue

8am: Twenty-three years ago, the Taliban destroyed two large Buddha statues in Bamyan province. The taller statue, named Salsaal, standing at 53 meters, and the smaller one, Shahmama, at 35 meters, were carved into the mountains between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD with a distinctive style. Mullah Omar, the former Taliban supreme leader, ordered the destruction of these statues on February 26, 2001, and the group blew them up from March 9 to 11 of the same year. Simultaneously, under Mullah Omar’s orders, sculptures and artifacts from the Buddhist era in various parts of Afghanistan, including hundreds of ancient artifacts in the National Museum of Afghanistan, were also destroyed. In the past two years, during which the Taliban has once again gained control over Afghanistan, some cultural activists and residents of Bamyan have criticized vandalism, destruction, and unauthorized excavations in the historical sites of Bamyan by the Taliban. According to them, these acts of vandalism are carried out by Taliban fighters. Click here to read more (external link).