Taliban-Backed Project Seeks to Save Afghanistan’s Ancient Buddhist City from Copper Mining

An 18-month-long conservation project to protect a 2,000-year-old Buddhist city is being backed by the Taliban, according to the Art Newspaper. The Afghan heritage site Mes Aynak is currently at risk of being destroyed due to a delayed mining project. The site, just 25 miles southeast of Kabul, is believed to contain the second largest untapped copper mine in the world. The deposits are estimated to be worth $100 billion.In 2008, Afghanistan’s former government, led by then-president Hamid