Abdullah Sarhadi, a former Taliban commander and current official, has told the BBC that he personally took part in the destruction of the historic Bamiyan Buddha statues and has no regrets over the act.
Sarhadi, who served as a Taliban military commander in Bamiyan during the group’s first period in power, initially declined to answer questions about the destruction of the statues. He later said: “I destroyed it with my own hands.”
Defending the Taliban’s actions, Sarhadi said the group’s past and current policies are, in his view, consistent with Islamic teachings. He also said he saw no reason to regret the destruction of the statues.
The Taliban destroyed the two monumental Bamiyan Buddha statues in March 2001, triggering widespread international condemnation and causing the loss of one of Afghanistan’s most significant cultural and historical landmarks.
After the fall of the Taliban’s first government, Sarhadi was detained and spent several years at Guantanamo Bay.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, he was appointed governor of Bamiyan and later governor of Jawzjan. He was recently appointed deputy commander of a Taliban army corps in northern Afghanistan.
