London, Kabul, 24 July 2012
Great Britain is returning 843 Afghan art objects to Afghanistan. This massive artwork return was made possible thanks to the investigations works at the British Museum and the British Minister of Defence. Indeed, they highlighted, thanks to the collaboration of the British Police, of the UK Border Force and of the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police, that a huge quantity of Afghan objects had illegally entered the British territory since the thefts perpetrated at the Kabul Museum during the civil war which took place between 1992 and 1994. Three successive seizures have enabled the return of such a number of objects, destined for the black market.
That way since 2009, more than 2,300 works have been returned to the Kabul Museum; in 2011 an agreement was signed between the British and Afghan institutions so as to enjoy a complete cooperation.
The returned objects date from the Bronze Age to a Buddha statue from the 2nd or 3rd century before our era as well as Begram ivories (1st century AD) and medieval Islamic coins.