looting of the National Museum of Afghanistan resulted in a loss of 70% of the 100,000 artifacts of Afghan culture and history. On 11 August 1998, the Taliban destroyed the Puli Khumri Public Library. The library contained over 55,000 books and old manuscripts and was considered by Afghans as one of the most valuable and beautiful collections of their nation and their culture. In October 2001, Taliban was reported to have destroyed at least 2,750 ancient works of art at the National Museum of Afghanistan during the year. The Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan The obliteration of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan also known as the "Bamiyan Massacre" is arguably the most devastating act by the Taliban against the history of Afghanistan. In March 2001, supreme Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar issued an edict against un-Islamic graven images, including but not limited to, all idolatrous images of humans and animals. The well-coordinated and media sensationalized dynamiting of the giant Buddhas was the Taliban's outwardly dramatic expression of their quest to exterminate all "idolatrous" and unIslamic images from Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past. The destruction ancient art, like the peaceful giants, was seen by Taliban radicals as the fulfillment of Koranic law. Dated to the seventh century BC, the Colossi were cut at what is conceived to be an immeasurable cost into the towering, sandstone cliffs surrounding Bamiyan. Located at the center of a long valley, separating the mountain ranges of Hindu Kush and Koh-i-Baba, the taller of the two statues (approximately 53 meters/175 feet) is thought to represent Vairocana while the shorter one (approximately 36 meters/120 feet) most likely represents Buddha Sakyamuni, although the local Hazara people believe it embodies a woman. In the height of their existence, the two colossi rendered an awesome sight situated in a cliff with innumerable caves on either side of them while visible for miles with giant copper plated accents and brightly painted garments, as the statues were naturally illuminated both day and night. The Buddhas were seen as transcendental images and key symbols in the rise of Mahayana Buddhist teachings, the antithesis of Taliban belief construct and rule of law. In 1998, a Taliban commander fired grenades at the smaller statue, severing its upper half. The Taliban bombed the mountain above the statues frequently, cracking the enclaves that held the statues and damaging the colossi further. By winter 2001, pleas were raining down on the Taliban