BAMYAN: Provincial security forces in the last few months, have seized 12 items of ancient artifacts, from Bamyan’s airport, provincial information and culture directorate said in a statement. The artifacts, and some certain types of soil from the outskirts of Bamyan’s statues of Buddha have been seized during searching of foreign nationals in the airport, according to the statement. Out of these, 8 items of ancient works including pottery, precious stones, and engraved iron plates, and the other 4 items are grains, said the statement Also, Bamyan airport officials have prevented the smuggling of soil and black stone samples, which are the remains of destroyed statues of Buddha. Rahmatullah Rahmani, head of culture and art of Bamyan Information and Culture Directorate, said: based on the order of the Ministry of Information and Culture, we obtained all the artifacts. “Ancient monuments are the national treasures of the country and every citizen is responsible for protecting, maintaining and preventing their smuggling,” the statement quoted him as saying. The Kabul Times
Twelve ancient artifacts discovered in Bamyan
