Monuments Discovered at Shahid-e Mazari Airport Delivered to Bamyan’s Information and Culture Directorate

Twelve items of antiquities and soil of the Buddha area that were obtained during the inspection in Shahid Mazari Airport have been handed over to the officials of Bamyan Information and Culture Department.

According to the Bakhtar News Agency, the monuments were seized as a result of “foreign nationals” inspections.

Habibullah Rasa, the crime director of Shahid Mazari Airport, said the artifacts were recovered in four cases since December last year.

In the first case, four gemstones and eight items of pottery, precious stones, small iron tablets were found, Rasa said.

In other cases, he added, the smuggling of the soil, stone and hunk of Bamyan Buddha has been prevented.

“The first item is 3.9 kilograms of ancient soil, the second one is 265 grams of soil and 390 grams of black stones that are ancient soil and rocks, and the third one is 310 grams of soil that appears to be ancient soil and remains of Bamyan Buddha soil.”

Meanwhile, Rahmatullah Rahmani, director of culture and arts of the Bamyan Information and Culture Department, urged people to notify them or security officials if they suspect any cases.

“If you find that people are searching for antiquities or arbitrarily digging something, inform the security officials of the Information and Culture Directorate as soon as possible to prevent smuggling of antiquities in Bamyan,” Rahmani said.