Ancient Buddha Statue Damaged

November 12, 2007

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Bahrain Tribune Daily

http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?CategoryId=3&ArticleId=178662

In a replay of the vandalism that destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan, pro-Taliban militants have damaged a 40-metre tall carving of Buddha in the Swat valley in north-western Pakistan. The Buddha statue’s head, shoulders and feet have been destroyed. The militants have now threatened a third and final attack on the statue to reduce it to rubble. The statue is believed to be dating back to the second century BC. Considered the largest in Asia after the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the militants had attacked the statue in August-September as well. “This was the only giant Buddha statue after Bamiya. On September 29 extremists had tried to destroy it but the first attack on it was made on August 12. Archeologists say that it is difficult to protect the statues. People in the area still live in fear of other possible reprisals,” Dawn News correspondent Hamid Ullah Khan told CNN-IBN.