Restoration of Alisher Navaie Monument Halted in Mazar-e Sharif

DID Press: A month after Taliban authorities in northern Afghanistan pledged to rebuild the monument of 15th-century poet and statesman Alisher Navaie in Mazar-e Sharif city, local sources say the project has been halted.

Municipal officials had promised the monument would be restored within one month at a cost of 1.5 million Afghanis, following a ceremony attended by Uzbek diplomats and Mazar-e Sharif city mayor, Abdul Rahman Hemmat. But residents reported no visible progress at the site since the symbolic groundbreaking.

The statue of Navaie—a revered Turkic poet, thinker and politician of the Timurid era—was earlier demolished by Taliban forces, sparking widespread criticism at home and abroad. Tashkent formally demanded an explanation, after which the Taliban pledged not only to rebuild the monument but also to name a city square after Navaie.

The apparent suspension of the project has raised fresh concerns over the Taliban’s commitment to protecting Afghanistan’s cultural heritage and honoring diplomatic assurances.

Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, warned: “If the Taliban fail to rebuild Alisher Navaie’s monument, they will regret this act one day.”