PESHAWAR, May 23: Afghan antique dealers on Friday donated relics and artefacts of Afghan region to the Kabul Museum here as a gesture to preserve art and heritage of their war-shattered country.

Twenty-one Afghan dealers, who run antique shops in Peshawar, handed over around 50 objects including bowls, flasks, lamps, armour, gold coins, robes, old traditional costumes and axes to the Peshawar-based Afghan consular general Haji Abdul Khaliq Farahi during a seminar.

Dealers and antique collectors claimed that most of the pieces belonged to the Safavid, Kushan, Ghaznavid and King Abdur Rehman periods, which they purchased from dealers in Afghanistan and Peshawar.

Haji Malang Zadran, an Afghan dealer, donated 1,000-year-old traditional Afghan robe. Haji Amin, who is running an antique shop in Peshawar, announced giving the Safavid-period metalled lamp.

The day-long seminar titled “Preservation of culture & heritage: guarantee for national identity in Afghanistan,” was arranged by Afghan Cultural House, an organization assisted by the Afghan consulate, Peshawar, in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Afghan desk.

Afghanistan’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad Mosa Ghazi, director general Iranian Cultural Centre Mr Raees Saddat, HRCP chairperson Afrasiab Khattak, officials of Kabul Museum, Afghan information ministry, director Peshawar Museum Dr Ihsan and representatives of NGOs attended the event.

An Afghan archeologist Muhammad Yaseen Kasib said that some 400 Afghan antique dealers and collectors in Peshawar were very enthusiastic to contribute artifacts to the Kabul Museum to preserve the centuries-old heritage of their country.