{"id":953899,"date":"2021-11-02T13:28:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T17:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=953899"},"modified":"2021-11-02T13:28:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T17:28:49","slug":"report-taliban-shooting-at-remains-of-buddha-statues-they-vowed-to-protect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-taliban-shooting-at-remains-of-buddha-statues-they-vowed-to-protect\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Taliban Shooting at Remains of Buddha Statues They Vowed to Protect"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Freport-taliban-shooting-at-remains-of-buddha-statues-they-vowed-to-protect%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=953899&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">A video published by Afghan media on Monday appears to show Taliban jihadists shooting at the remains of the&nbsp;Bamiyan Buddha statues, once the world\u2019s tallest but bombed into oblivion by the Taliban during its previous rule in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>The video surfaced less than a month after Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the jihadist organization, now in control of all of Afghanistan, had stationed gunmen at the Bamiyan historic site to protect antiquities. On August 16, the day after the former government of Afghanistan collapsed and yielded to the current Taliban regime, a Sri Lankan newspaper published assurances from a Taliban spokesman that the terrorists would not harm Buddhist holy sites.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBuddhist sites in Afghanistan are not at risk, I refute any claim in this regard,\u201d spokesman Suhail Shaheen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/print\/front_page\/Taliban-denies-links-to-LTTE\/238-218340\">told<\/a> Sri Lanka\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Daily Mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The images of individuals opening fire on the side of the mountain that once preserved the Bamiyan Buddha statues surfaced via the Afghan newspaper&nbsp;<em>EtilaatRoz<\/em> and appeared to be <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MSharif1990\/status\/1455215756426289152\">verified<\/a> by&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em> reported Sharif Hassan.&nbsp;<em>EtilaatRoz<\/em> sourced the video to a local resident, stating that \u201cresidents of Bamiyan are concerned that the Taliban will once again destroy the province\u2019s historical and cultural monuments.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.643263757116\">\n<p lang=\"fa\" dir=\"rtl\">\u0634\u0644\u06cc\u06a9 \u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0631 \u0628\u0648\u062f\u0627\u06cc \u0628\u0627\u0645\u06cc\u0627\u0646 <\/p>\n<p>\u0648\u06cc\u062f\u06cc\u0648\u06cc\u06cc \u06a9\u0647 \u06cc\u06a9\u06cc \u0627\u0632 \u0628\u0627\u0634\u0646\u062f\u06af\u0627\u0646 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#\u0628\u0627\u0645\u06cc\u0627\u0646<\/a> \u0628\u0647 \u0627\u0637\u0644\u0627\u0639\u0627\u062a \u0631\u0648\u0632 \u0641\u0631\u0633\u062a\u0627\u062f\u0647 \u0646\u0634\u0627\u0646 \u0645\u06cc\u200c\u200c\u062f\u0647\u062f \u06a9\u0647 \u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0631 \u0628\u0648\u062f\u0627\u06cc \u0628\u0627\u0645\u06cc\u0627\u0646 \u0641\u06cc\u0631 \u0645\u06cc \u06a9\u0646\u0646\u062f. \u0628\u0627\u0634\u0646\u062f\u06af\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0627\u0645\u06cc\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0628\u0631\u0627\u0632 \u0646\u06af\u0631\u0627\u0646\u06cc \u0645\u06cc\u200c\u06a9\u0646\u0646\u062f \u06a9\u0647 \u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u062f\u0648\u0628\u0627\u0631\u0647 \u0622\u062b\u0627\u0631 \u062a\u0627\u0631\u06cc\u062e\u06cc-\u0641\u0631\u0647\u0646\u06af\u06cc \u0627\u06cc\u0646 \u0648\u0644\u0627\u06cc\u062a \u0631\u0627 \u062a\u062e\u0631\u06cc\u0628 \u06a9\u0646\u0646\u062f. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OiMwURpJVP\">pic.twitter.com\/OiMwURpJVP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u0627\u0637\u0644\u0627\u0639\u0627\u062a \u0631\u0648\u0632 | Etilaatroz (@Etilaatroz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Etilaatroz\/status\/1455176960649334789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 1, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The videos appear to have been filmed from too far away to gauge the damage that the jihadis had caused to the site. They appeared to be shooting into the now-empty holes on the side of the mountain that held the Buddhas.<\/p>\n<p>The Taliban used dynamite to blow up the largest Bamiyan Buddha in 2001. At the time, the United Nations historical preservation agency UNESCO had <a href=\"https:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/archive\/websites\/venice2002\/archives\/news\/nov\/archives_nov_2.htm\">not labeled<\/a> it a World Heritage Site, making it difficult for the U.N. to defend. Negotiations to urge the Taliban not to destroy the statues failed. The statues were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/ap-art-history\/west-and-central-asia-apahh\/central-asia\/a\/bamiyan-buddhas\">believed<\/a> to have been carved in the Sixth Century, but archaeologists knew little more about them when discovered. Their destruction resulted in the revelation of other archaeological finds hidden on the side of their mountain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mei.edu\/publications\/deja-vu-all-over-again-afghanistan-negotiating-taliban-save-heritage-sites\">including<\/a> as many as 50 caves used by Buddhist monks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The Taliban is a radical Sunni jihadist organization that considers the depiction of any deity an affront to Islam. Destroying the Buddhas was part of a larger campaign to eradicate iconography that hurt their Islamic sentiments. The former Afghan government, though also nominally Islamic, attempted in March to pay homage to the destroyed artifacts with a 3D projection of the statues back into their places.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">\u201cWe do not want people to forget what a horrific crime was committed here,\u201d Zahra Hussaini, one of the organizers of the event, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-56337042\">told<\/a> the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Taliban jihadists seized control of Afghanistan on August 15, after a successful campaign of conquest that began in response to President Joe Biden extending the 20-year Afghan War through that month. In response to the Taliban\u2019s return to power,&nbsp;UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.unesco.org\/news\/afghanistan-unesco-calls-protection-cultural-heritage-its-diversity\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;urging the Taliban to allow \u201cthe preservation of Afghanistan\u2019s cultural heritage in its diversity, in full respect of international law\u201d and to work to \u201cspare and protect cultural heritage from damage and looting.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">UNESCO had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/taliban-now-guard-site-of-bamiyan-buddhas-they-destroyed\/\">invested<\/a> $20 million in a museum at the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The Taliban <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/taliban-now-guard-site-of-bamiyan-buddhas-they-destroyed\/\">indicated<\/a> last month that it aspired to protect what remained of the Bamiyan archaeological site. The AFP reported seeing Taliban \u201cgunmen\u201d guarding the site and claimed one jihadi did not \u201chide his embarrassment\u201d when asked about the destruction there.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18568210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1235648345.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-18568210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1235648345-1024x681-1.jpg\" alt width=\"990\" height=\"658\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Members of Taliban stand guard in front of the site where the Salsal Buddha statue once stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province on October 2, 2021. (BULENT KILIC\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">\u201cI really can\u2019t comment \u2026 but what is certain is that now we are committed to protecting the historical heritage of our country. It is our responsibility,\u201d the jihadi, identified as&nbsp;Saifurrahman Mohammadi, told AFP. Mohammedi confirmed AFP reporting that Taliban jihadis had looted the site en masse following August 15, but insisted that the looting \u201cwas before [the Taliban\u2019s] arrival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Taliban\u2019s typical ruthless brutality \u2013 in addition to destroying ancient treasures, the jihadists presided over a reign of terror defined by gross human rights abuses, including attacks on women and violence against all non-Muslims \u2013 has become a hindrance for the group during its second stint in power. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have frozen Afghan government assets and the Afghan Central Bank has similarly blocked the jihadists from accessing government money. In response, Taliban spokesmen have gone on a global campaign to urge the world to fund their success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are freedom-fighters of Afghanistan like your ancestors who struggled for liberation of your country. But we are victims of poisonous propaganda,\u201d spokesman Shaheen told Sri Lanka\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Daily Mirror<\/em> in the same article in which he vowed that the jihadists would protect Buddhist sites. Taliban jihadists have not abstained from asking the United States, with whom they were at war for the last 20 years, for money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica is a big country, they need to have a big heart,\u201d acting Taliban \u201cForeign Minister\u201d Amir Khan Muttaqi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/09\/14\/taliban-cries-poor-urges-u-s-to-show-some-heart-and-send-money\/\">said<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n<p>Ahmad Wali Haqmal, a spokesman for the Taliban\u2019s \u201cfinance ministry,\u201d expressed more desperation last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">\u201cThe money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money,\u201d Haqmal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/10\/29\/taliban-wants-afghan-government-cash-just-give-us-our-money\/\">demanded<\/a>, addressing the international finance institutions that had frozen the group out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1635933815480000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHShPrGdbmmrA1BMiuetrG00Ja2Hg\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1635933815480000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF5XZaSkwFk2jkJKrYicTUO9g3y2w\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A video published by Afghan media on Monday appears to show Taliban jihadists shooting at the remains of the\u00a0Bamiyan Buddha statues, once the world\u2019s tallest but bombed into oblivion by &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-953899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}