Afghan boys play soccer in front of the empty seat of one of two Buddha statues, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, in Bamiyan on June 17, 2015. Bamiyan, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northwest of Kabul, stands in a deep green and lush valley stretching 100 kilometres through central Afghanistan, on the former Silk Road that once linked China with Central Asia and beyond. The town was home to two nearly 2,000-year-old Buddha statues before they were destroyed by the Taliban, months before their regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001. AFP PHOTO / SHAH Marai (Photo credit should read SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
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AFP SHAH MARAI