HEART: Taliban fighters have stormed several security posts providingprotection to Afghanistan’s historic minaret of Jam, cutting access to theUNESCO World Heritage Site and killing 18 security forces, officials saidWednesday.
The attack comes less than a week after the revered 12th-century minaret,located in a remote part of the western province of Ghor, was threatened bysurging floodwaters.
“The Taliban have captured some checkpoints around the minaret. We had toretreat because more fighting would cause damage to the minaret,” Sayed ZiaHussaini, the deputy police chief of Ghor, told AFP.
Abdul Hai Khatebi, the provincial governor spokesman, said 15pro-government militias and three policemen had been killed in the attacks,which started Monday.
“The Taliban have shut off telecommunication towers and have cut any accessto the area,” Fakhruddin Ariapur, the Ghor province director of informationand culture, told AFP.
“The cleaning-up work (from the flood) has stopped and we don’t know whatis happening there.”
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Dramatic video footage from late last week showed brown torrents crashingup against the base of the brick minaret, which was built in about 1190.
On Monday, the government said it had hired about 300 local workers tochannel floodwaters away from the tower. The work appeared to have savedthe minaret from imminent danger.
Located in an area largely under Taliban control, the Jam minaret is theworld’s second tallest made of bricks, reaching a height of 65 metres (213feet).
It is situated on the frontier of Ghor and Herat provinces, at the heart ofthe former Ghorid empire which dominated Afghanistan and parts of India inthe 12th-13th centuries. -APP/AFP
