Golden Buddha, Hidden Copper

Twelve years after the Taliban blew up the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas, a Chinese mining firm -- developing one of the world's largest copper deposits -- threatens to destroy another of Afghanistan's archeological treasures.

BY LOIS PARSHLEY | SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

De-miners detonate an anti-personnel landmine buried near the MCC compound in Mes Aynak. The compound, Huffman says, "looks like a military fortress complete with bomb-resistant barricades filled with sand outlining the area, numerous outposts where armed guards keep watch, and concrete walls topped with razor wire around the compound itself." 

Brent E. Huffman

 

Lois Parshley is an assistant editor at Foreign Policy.