Taliban Takeover Sparks Fear For Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage Sites

In March 2001, the Taliban spent weeks using dynamite and artillery to blow up two giant 1,500-year old statues of Buddha, carved into a cliff at Bamiyan.

Bamiyan's cultural centre should have been completed last month, showcasing the remarkable heritage of a site that Afghanistan's Taliban desecrated two decades ago by dynamiting ancient statues of Buddha. But the red carpet celebrations will have to wait. After the Taliban swept triumphantly into the capital Kabul, everything was put on hold. "Everything is suspended," said Philippe Delanghe, from UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency, who said they are awaiting the decisions of the new regime. Afghanistan once stood on the legendary Silk Road trade route, a crossroads of ancient civilisations.