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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- New video has documented the destruction of the age-old Buddhas at Bamiyan, demolished by Afghanistan's ruling Taleban.
CNN obtained the exclusive images from an anonymous eyewitness. They show that the legs have been blown off the massive sandstone Buddhas, which were carved from a cliff overlooking the Afghan desert in the third and fifth centuries A.D. Extensive damage has been done to the head and torso of the figures as well.
The statues had survived the ravages of Genghis Khan, centuries of invasions and wars, and the natural wear of the elements -- but they have fallen victim to the explosives and pickaxes of the Taleban, the fundamentalist Islamic militia that has governed most of Afghanistan since 1996.
At 53 meters (175 feet) and 36 meters (120 feet), the statues were the tallest standing Buddhas in the world. The Taleban ordered their destruction as part of a campaign to destroy pre-Islamic artifacts considered an assault on Islam -- a campaign that most Muslim countries have condemned as a misreading of Islamic law.
"The statues had been left over from our ancestors as a wrong heritage. They were in clash with our beliefs," Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil said Sunday.
The Taleban, who imposed an austere Islamic code on Afghanistan, have rebuffed international pleas to spare the Buddhas. As pictures of their destruction emerged Sunday, Sri Lanka offered to buy the wreckage in hopes of reassembling the statues.
"We have the expertise and experience in erecting such monuments," said Lakshman Jayakody, an adviser to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Sri Lanka has many Buddhist statues fashioned out of rock by ancient artisans, and many of its modern sculptors use similar techniques.
Apart from these smuggled images, independent experts and observers have so far been barred from Bamiyan. Muttawakil said Sunday the Taleban could allow reporters to visit the scene this week.
The demolition and subsequent anger comes at a time when more than a million Afghanis are experiencing freezing winter temperatures and a famine.
Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taleban as the rightful Afghan government. Years of drought and an ongoing civil war between the Taleban and the remnants of the old Afghan government, which controls less than 10 percent of the country, have displaced hundreds of thousands.
The World Food Program estimates nearly 4 million are on the brink of starvation and launched a new appeal for up to $76 million in aid. But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned last week that the Taleban's destruction of its cultural heritage will further anger donor countries.
The Taleban also faces U.N. sanctions demanding they hand over suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, whom the United States accuses of instigating attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East and Africa.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- New video has documented the destruction of the age-old Buddhas at Bamiyan, demolished by Afghanistan's ruling Taleban.
CNN obtained the exclusive images from an anonymous eyewitness. They show that the legs have been blown off the massive sandstone Buddhas, which were carved from a cliff overlooking the Afghan desert in the third and fifth centuries A.D. Extensive damage has been done to the head and torso of the figures as well.
The statues had survived the ravages of Genghis Khan, centuries of invasions and wars, and the natural wear of the elements -- but they have fallen victim to the explosives and pickaxes of the Taleban, the fundamentalist Islamic militia that has governed most of Afghanistan since 1996.
At 53 meters (175 feet) and 36 meters (120 feet), the statues were the tallest standing Buddhas in the world. The Taleban ordered their destruction as part of a campaign to destroy pre-Islamic artifacts considered an assault on Islam -- a campaign that most Muslim countries have condemned as a misreading of Islamic law.
"The statues had been left over from our ancestors as a wrong heritage. They were in clash with our beliefs," Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil said Sunday.
The Taleban, who imposed an austere Islamic code on Afghanistan, have rebuffed international pleas to spare the Buddhas. As pictures of their destruction emerged Sunday, Sri Lanka offered to buy the wreckage in hopes of reassembling the statues.
"We have the expertise and experience in erecting such monuments," said Lakshman Jayakody, an adviser to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Sri Lanka has many Buddhist statues fashioned out of rock by ancient artisans, and many of its modern sculptors use similar techniques.
Apart from these smuggled images, independent experts and observers have so far been barred from Bamiyan. Muttawakil said Sunday the Taleban could allow reporters to visit the scene this week.
The demolition and subsequent anger comes at a time when more than a million Afghanis are experiencing freezing winter temperatures and a famine.
Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taleban as the rightful Afghan government. Years of drought and an ongoing civil war between the Taleban and the remnants of the old Afghan government, which controls less than 10 percent of the country, have displaced hundreds of thousands.
The World Food Program estimates nearly 4 million are on the brink of starvation and launched a new appeal for up to $76 million in aid. But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned last week that the Taleban's destruction of its cultural heritage will further anger donor countries.
The Taleban also faces U.N. sanctions demanding they hand over suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, whom the United States accuses of instigating attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East and Africa.
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