The ancient Bamiyan Buddha statues destroyed by the Taleban regime in Afghanistan could be recreated by lasers. The 140 multicoloured images, powered by wind and solar power, are to be projected onto the four miles of clay cliffs where the 1,600-year-old Buddhas stood before they were pulled down in 2001. The Afghan government has approved of the concept by artist Hiro Yamagata to recreate the images in the Bamiyan Valley Silk Road. The United Nations cultural organisation (Unesco) has to give approval to the project before it can go ahead, assessing whether it may damage the cliffs. The 175ft-high images would be projected for four hours every Sunday night. The project is estimated to cost $9m (£5m) and may take two years to complete.