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"The taliban will use all means for their political and economic benefit," Nasratullah Hewadwall Nasratullah Hewadwall, director of the Hewadwall Center in Kabul, tells "K". The Afghan organization was founded after the return of the Taliban to power and aims to preserve Afghanistan cultural heritage. They faced the wrath of the world in the past when they destroyed antiquities, they saw the world better and now that they rule again they have to prove that they have changed, he adds.

Nasratullah Hewadwall, a cultural heritage expert in Kabul, argues that chaos already prevails, particularly in rural regions. A lack of security and constantly shifting alliances have enabled looters—whether poverty-stricken villagers, roving gangs, Taliban, or various militia—to pilfer artifacts that then are smuggled to art market hubs like Dubai. Buddhist sites, often packed with highly valuable statues, have been particularly hard hit.