In their efforts to emulate the Afghan Taliban who blew up the 6th Century Buddha statues in Bamiyan in 2001 and damaged the 40-metre high, 2,000-year-old Buddha statue in Swat Valley in 2007, the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) under Maulana Fazlullah and other militants in Khyber Pakhtukhwa have decided to attack pre-islamic heritage. The Swat Museum was also attacked by militants in 2009 and more attacks from the Taliban insurgency cannot be ruled out in Swat and elsewhere; Swat being the centre of the ancient Gandhara civilisation with about 400 Buddhist sites. Experts believe that there are 300 archaeological sites only in Mardan and Swabi, the majority of which have not yet been excavated, while a number of declared sites became government assets after they had been explored by smugglers.  — M. K.