July 23, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12,1423

KHARWAR (Afghanistan): Beneath a series of towering dusty mounds outside a remote village lie clues to an ancient civilization that flourished long before Islam embraced Afghanistan.

For the explorer, the reward of a five-hour drive down a bone-shaking road from the capital Kabul is a glimpse of the remnants of a sophisticated city that boasted a water system, places of worship, houses and shops.

But that ancient heritage is in danger of being lost for ever — a victim of the ravaging combination of destructive natural elements and the plundering greed of treasure seekers.

The city, called Kafir Koot (Fort of the Infidel) is thought to have flourished between the third and fifth centuries AD.

Buddhism was still the predominant faith in Afghanistan by virtue of its strategic location on the ancient silk route — an international highway of cultures and religions that reached from Europe to China.

Those Buddhist roots have struggled to survive in modern Afghanistan, where a combination of decades of occupation and conflict have diluted the appreciation of pre-Islamic history.

The destruction of Afghanistan’s past reached its zenith last year when the Taliban ordered that two towering statues of Buddha at Bamiyan be blown up, on the grounds they were graven images.

DOWNFALL OF TALIBAN: Many people date the downfall of the Taliban from that cultural outrage rather than the events of Sept 11, which resulted in the US-led air bombardment and, eventually, its fall from power at the hands of the Northern Alliance.

But what the Taliban could not see they could not destroy, and Afghan scientists and archaeologists hope that Kafir Koot may yet yield a treasure trove of historical artefacts.

“The discovery of this town is very important for us and I think for everybody,” Information and Cultural Minister Raheen Makhdoom said.

He said that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had agreed to take immediate steps to try to protect the site from further desecration and looting, and to study it for clues to the past.

Located in Logar province, about two and a half hours’ drive from the provincial capital Pul-i-Alam, Kafir Koot lies on the outskirts of the modern village of Kharwar.

A tiny part of a massive wall that surrounded the ancient town is still visible and there are signs the area was enclosed beneath the gaze of a mighty fortress.

The ruins of the ancient city are dotted with holes which, from a distance, look like caves or fortifications for modern soldiers.

But a closer look reveals that they are tunnels dug by treasure seekers hunting for coins, pottery, statues and gems.

Much still remains. Broken pieces of colourful pots are strewn around some holes, while the foundations of shops and houses can also be seen.

ANCIENT LIFE: In some cases, the remains of ancient walls are still visible, as are colourful frescoes and paintings defying time to give a glimpse of ancient life.

But nature has also taken its toll and sand, wind and rain have encased statues in a concrete-like mixture so that all that can be seen now are the muscular thighs or bulging toes of what would have been magnificent statues.

The upper parts of the statues have been hacked off by looters to sell abroad.

The looting was not without its risks. Locals say there have been deadly fights between rival relic hunters and villagers are also wary of poisonous snakes they say inhabit the ruins.

Looting started after the Soviet occupation of 1979, but reached its peak after the downfall of the Taliban regime in December last year.

“You see these high forts,” says local Wakil, pointing to dozens of freshly-built houses near Kharwar. “They each cost 10 lakh (around $18,000). Without the money from digging, people can not afford to build such houses.”

With the help of local people, dealers would load heads taken from dozens of statues on to trucks to take to Pakistan, where they were smuggled to Europe and Japan, he said.

More fragile objects, such as pots and frescoes would be wrapped in cotton.

The scavenging has slowed since the government stationed four Afghan soldiers to keep guard over the site, but the soldiers complain they have not been paid regularly and during a visit at the weekend there were signs of recent digging.—Reuters