Historical artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age (3500 to 1200 BC)
that were stolen from Afghanistan and smuggled to Britain have been
returned by the British armed forces, it was announced Thursday.
Some
of the items were looted from Afghanistan's museums during civil wars
in the country over the past two decades while others came from illegal
excavations of archaeological sites.
The precious cargo,
weighing more than two tonnes and containing 843 individual objects,
left Royal Air Force Station Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last week on
board a transport plane, and was then transferred from the British
military base Camp Bastion in Helmand province to Kabul, The Independent
reported.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and President
Hamid Karzai confirmed its safe arrival at a press conference in Kabul
Thursday.
The consignment included objects found in three
separate seizures by customs officials as they were being smuggled into
Britain, while other items came to light following investigations by the
Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police. Additional objects
were saved by private individuals.
Experts at the British Museum identified them as originating in Afghanistan and they were stored at the museum in London.
Britain returns stolen artefacts to Afghanistan
