Former Taliban commander admits destroying Bamiyan Buddhas

Image of one of the statues from around 1940. / Annemarie Schwarzenbach - PD - WikiFacebook

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By Mark Buckton in New Taipei August 27, 2026

A former Taliban commander and provincial governor has admitted taking a direct part in the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues, telling the BBC he has no regrets, the broadcaster reports.

Abdullah Sarhadi, who commanded Taliban forces in Bamiyan during the movement's first period in power, said he blew up the two colossal statues with his own hands during the demolition ordered by the Taliban leadership in March 2001. The admission is a rare first-hand account of one of the most notorious acts of cultural destruction of the past century, and it comes from a man the Taliban has since promoted to senior posts under its restored government.

After initially declining to answer questions about the demolition, Sarhadi told the BBC: "I destroyed them with my own hands."

He defended the act, saying the Taliban had acted in line with Islamic law and the orders of the movement. "We are idol breakers, not idol sellers," he said, adding that he had no reason for regret because he regarded the destruction as "a divine command."

The two statues, carved into sandstone cliffs in the central Bamiyan Valley in the 6th century, had stood for close to 1,500 years before being brought down with explosives. Their destruction drew condemnation from UNESCO, foreign governments and cultural bodies, which called it an irreversible assault on shared human heritage.

The Bamiyan Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and remains among the most important archaeological and cultural sites in Central Asia, a record of centuries of Buddhist civilisation along the ancient Silk Road.

According to the documentary, Sarhadi served as a military commander during the Taliban's rule in the 1990s and surrendered to the US-led coalition after the movement collapsed in late 2001. He was held at Guantanamo Bay before his release.

After the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Sarhadi was made governor of Bamiyan and later of Jawzjan province.