Striking out at the rampant Islamophobia displayed by ancient Buddhist carvings, the irrepressible iconoclasts of the Taliban have attempted to continue the work they began when they blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Oh, what fun they’ll have in Europe!
“Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha,” from the BBC (thanks to John):
Suspected pro-Taleban militants have tried to blow up an ancient carving of Buddha in north-west Pakistan.
The statue, thought to date from the second century BC, sustained only minimal damage in the attack near Manglore in remote Swat district.
The area has seen a rise in attacks on “un-Islamic” targets in recent months.
This is the first such attack in Pakistan and is reminiscent of the Taleban’s 2001 destruction of the giant Buddhas at Bamiyan in Afghanistan.
Dynamite
Officials and witnesses in Swat said armed men arrived in the area on Monday night.
“Militants drilled holes in the rock and filled them with dynamite and blew it up,” provincial archaeology department official Aqleem Khan told Reuters news agency.
“The explosion damaged the upper part of the rock but there was no damage to the image itself.”