Taliban sells tickets to ruins of Bamian Buddhas it blew up in 2001
The Bamian Buddhas were declared false gods by the Taliban founder Mullah Omar and were ordered to be destroyed
The Taliban administration opened a ticket office at the foot of two giant, centuries-old Buddha statues in the Bamian province in central Afghanistan that had been blown up by the extremist regime two decades ago.
According to the Washington Post, the tickets are being sold for the gaping hole in the 125-foot cliff at the price of 58 cents for Afghans and $3.45 for foreign visitors. The Bamian Buddhas were declared false gods by the Taliban founder Mullah Omar in 2001 and were ordered to be destroyed.
Despite international outcry, the extremist movement detonated explosives and fired at the sixth-century relics with anti aircraft missiles.
"Bamian and the Buddhas in particular are of great importance to our government, just as they are to the world," Atiqullah Azizi, the Taliban’s deputy culture minister, is now saying.
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He added that over 1,000 guards have been assigned to protect cultural heritage across Afghanistan, restricting access and overseeing ticket sales. As the cash-strapped country struggles with a financial crisis, the move is seen as Taliban’s efforts to attract more revenue from international tourism.
Last month, senior Taliban officials attended the inauguration of a section dedicated to Buddhist artifacts at Kabul’s national museum. Earlier in 2022, reports said that Taliban is preserving the iconic terracotta Buddha statues in the hopes of drawing Chinese investors.