It’s just one of many bomb-damaged villas on the outskirts of Kabul. But it is, perhaps, the most important building in Afghanistan, as it houses the rich history of this war-torn country. The museum in Kabul houses what’s left of the artifacts that have survived the fighting...

Afghan and Italian experts have painstakingly put back together hundreds of priceless statues, carvings and other artifacts that had been damaged or even smashed to pieces by thieves and the Taliban...

I learned later that many of the statues had been found in pieces in the storeroom of the museum, which had been ransacked many times but still gave up such priceless artifacts when the experts managed to work their way through the debris.

Others had been left in pieces in the grounds of the museum...

This past weekend 1,400 artifacts protected from looters and the Taliban in far-off Switzerland have been returned to the Kabul museum.

News reports say one of the first items to be placed in the museum was a small Buddah statue from Bamiyan, where the Taliban had blown up the giant statues.