BBC News: Dozens of archaeological sites in Afghanistan have been bulldozed to allow systematic looting, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. They say their analysis of satellite photos provides the first definitive photographic evidence that looting patterns that began under the previous government have continued since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Ancient settlements dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age – some earlier than 1000BC – are among those they say have been damaged. Most of the sites identified are in northern Afghanistan’s Balkh region, which more than two millennia ago was the heartland of Bactria. Click here to read more (external link).
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