Islamabad, Pakistan — 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.
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.
At a news conference after the talks, Annan refused to confirm the total destruction of the Buddhas, but said Muttawakil had told him "all the moveable statues have been destroyed," referring to smaller Buddhist monuments.
The destruction of the two giant Buddhas was corroborated by Taliban officials in southern Afghanistan and by an aid worker who said his information came from witnesses in the area.
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