Taliban now guard site of Bamiyan Buddhas they destroyed

A Taliban policeman patrols the site where the statues of Buddha stood in Bamiyan before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001. Photo: AFP

Taliban gunmen now stand guard at the gaping rock cavities that once housed two ancient statues of the Buddha - desecrated with dynamite by the Islamists during their last stint in power.

The monuments in Bamiyan province had stood for 1,500 years but their destruction was ordered in 2001 by that regime - already infamous then after banning television and imposing ultra-strict rules governing the conduct of women - for being against the Muslim faith.