A FORMER Afghan culture secretary is calling on the UK’s museums and galleries to return his country’s treasures – and step up the fight against the international black market in antiquities.

Decades of fighting have cost Afghanistan world famous heritage sites, significant cultural collections and precious artworks after successive forces looted and destroyed for personal gain and to further their political aims.

Large quantities of stolen materials have made their way to the UK, with airport officials confiscating hundreds of items in previous years including Bactrian Bronze Age cosmetics containers, 1,000-year-old Islamic metalwork and ancient Buddhist statuary.

Around 850 such artefacts were repatriated in a joint operation between the British Museum, police and the UK Border Force in 2012.

That initiative came three years after the return of 3.4 tonnes of smuggled artefacts seized over a six-year period at Heathrow Airport, many of which had been trafficked from Pakistan.

However, Professor Sayed Eshaq Deljou Hossaini believes many more stolen items remain in public and private collections around the world.

Attending a special event in Scotland this week to celebrate the country’s ties with Afghanistan, he told The National that agencies must work together to restore his nation’s lost treasures.

Hossaini, who now lives in Norway, said there is “no doubt” that valuable items rest on British shelves. Discussing collections and law agencies, he went on: “Lots of assets taken from Afghanistan have been brought here. The British empire was [in control] in Afghanistan, and in this new period countless things have been looted. Very important items have been taken.

“I would like them to return all these items.”

On Afghanistan’s relationship with its culture, he said: “We have thousands of years behind us – we’ve had the Aryan period, the Zoroastrian period, the Buddhist period and that of Alexander the Great.

“The strong culture is one of the main factors that has held Afghanistan together. It has given the people faith and belief.”

Crossed by the historic Silk Road, the mountain nation drew traders and artefacts from around the world, becoming a melting pot of cultures and ideas and a favourite with archaeologists.

However, ancient sites and items were destroyed, damaged or pillaged in the 30 years following the 1979 Soviet invasion, with the fourth-century BC city Ai Khanoum attacked, and Kabul Museum, which held the country’s national archives, ransacked.

Cultural devastation continued with rise of the Taliban, which again targeted the museum, breaking up more than 2,750 artefacts with images of people or animals at around the same time the world famous sixth century Buddhas of Bamiyan were blown up in 2001.

More than 1,500 years old, these giant figures were obliterated using tanks, artillery and explosives.

Meanwhile, poverty has driven others to dig pieces from historical sites, with their finds smuggled out for the global art market by organised crime networks.

In 2016 New York art dealer Nancy Wiener was charged with selling stolen relics from Afghanistan, India and China to respected collections, including the National Gallery of Australia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for millions of dollars. The case is still before the courts.

Hossaini, who held office from 1993-97, described how he travelled to the museum without security when he heard Kabul’s collection was being ransacked and tried to haul its iron gates back into place. “Our national culture was kept there,” he said. “To have our national identity attacked is the biggest tragedy.”

However, he says international collaboration has helped restore some significant sites, with the magnificent Qala Iktyaruddin citadel in Herat, thought to have been built by Alexander the Great, amongst those saved.

He added: “The biggest threat to Afghanistan’s culture is the continuous worry that terrorism comes back. Other cultures are trying to insert themselves into ours.”

Hossaini’s comments come ahead of an event at the House of Commons on Monday to celebrate the legacy of Afghan national hero Ahmed Shah Masoud, the military leader who resisted Soviet forces and opposed local militias and the Taliban before his assassination by a suicide bomber 16 years ago today.

Organised by community group Glasgow Afghan United, the evening will focus on human rights and citizenship, with city MPs Patrick Grady and Alison Thewliss amongst those in attendance alongside Afghan ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad.

Masoud’s death came two days before the September 11 attack on New York. Abdul Bostani, chair of Glasgow Afghan United, said: “September is marked in human history as a catastrophic month for Americans and for the freedom-loving people of Afghanistan. It is a month which has joined together the Afghans’ and Americans’ fate, leaving us to suffer from the same pain.”

National Museums Scotland confirmed it holds no archaeological items from Afghanistan and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “The UK Government is completely committed to combating illicit trade in cultural goods and helping safeguard and promote cultural heritage overseas through our £30 million Cultural Protection Fund. Items that are held in the collections of museums and galleries are the responsibility of the trustees of each museum who are legally responsible for their care.”