Attack on tourists rocks fledgling Afghanistan tourism sector france24.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from france24.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pictures showed several pedalos being operated by the jihadi fighters - some of whom were seen carrying military-grade rifles - on Band e-Amir Lake in Afghanistan on Thursday.
Taliban gunmen now stand guard at the gaping rock cavities that once housed two ancient statues of the Buddha desecrated with dynamite by the Taliban during their last stint in power. The monuments in Bamiyan province had stood for 1,500 years but their destruction was ordered in 2001 by that regime already infamous then after banning television and imposing ultra-strict rules governing the conduct of women for being against the Muslim faith. Hundreds of cadres from across the country spent more than three weeks demolishing the towering statues carved into the side of a cliff, sparking a global outcry.