BAMYAN - The United Nations education and culture agency (UNESCO) and the Italian government have signed an agreement to establish a task force of cultural heritage experts.
The accord was signed by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni to launch the 'Unite for Heritage' coalition, which has been prompted following attacks on cultural heritage sites.
In 2001, the Taliban's former leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, decreed that two ancient giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan province were un-Islamic and ordered they be destroyed. They were blown up with dynamite the next month.
Under the new agreement, UNESCO will be able to ask the Italian government to make experts available for deployment for the conservation of cultural heritage affected by crisis.  (Tolonews)