March 4, 2001

Afghan protest rally on March 8, 2001 to denounce the criminal Taliban militia's decision to destroy Afghanistan's pre-Islamic cultural heritage.  Click here for more information

Afghan Buddhas doomed: foreign minister
KABUL, March 4 (AFP) - Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddhas appeared doomed Sunday as the Taliban militia ruled out any reversal of their "Islamic" edict ahead

UN 'fails' to save Afghan statues
BBC News
The ruling Taleban authorities in Afghanistan have rejected a plea from the United Nations for them to stop destroying the country's Buddhist statues.

UN mission to save Afghan statues
Bamiyan's Buddha is an "insult" to the purist Taleban
By Susannah Price in Islamabad - BBC 3/4/01
A United Nations special envoy has gone to Afghanistan in a last-ditch effort to stop the Taleban authorities from destroying the country's ancient Buddhist statues.

Fate of Buddha statues in Afghanistan unclear
KABUL, March 4 (Reuters) - The fate of the world's two most famous giant Buddha statues in central Afghanistan was unclear on Sunday due to conflicting reports

Opposition: Taleban starting to wreck age-old Buddhas
March 2, 2001
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian-based Afghan opposition leader said Friday that Afghanistan's ruling Taleban has started to destroy two centuries-old Buddhas

G8 "dismayed and shocked" at Afghan statues' destruction
TRIESTE, Italy, March 4 (AFP) - The Group of Eight countries on Sunday expressed "dismay and shock" at the planned destruction of ancient statues by

China's Buddhists condemn Taliban destruction
BEIJING, March 4 (Reuters) - The state-run Buddhist Association of China called on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement to immediately halt the destruction

Chechen rebel backs Taleban campaign
Chechen rebels see world "hypocrisy" - BBC 3/4/01
Support for the Taleban campaign to destroy the Buddhist statues has come from a senior figure in the Chechen rebel movement - Yusuf Ibrahim, an influential editor

Analysis: Buddhas' fate signals Taleban divisions
March 3, 2001 By Nic Robertson - CNN Correspondent
LONDON, England (CNN) -- For those who watch the Taleban closely, the decree to destroy the ancient Buddhas in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, indicates

Afghan fighting intensifies on Tajik border - BBC 3/4/01
Russian troops patrolling the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan say they have noted intensive exchanges of fire. The exchange is said to have taken place

Afghan Taliban arrests four men with bombs - radio
ISLAMABAD, March 4 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement arrested four men with bombs in the capital Kabul on Saturday, the Taliban radio said.