The Taliban movement began smashing all statues from Afghanistan's cultural past yesterday, ignoring international appeals to save the ancient artefacts.
International concern was first raised on Monday, when the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, ordered the smashing of all statues, including the two Buddhas, 38 metres and 53 metres tall, in Bamiyan, west of Kabul.
The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, appealed directly to the Taliban on Wednesday to reverse its decision.
"UNESCO considers this to be a crisis," Mr Christian Manhart, head of UNESCO's Asian division in the cultural heritage department, said.
Pakistan, one of the Taliban's very few foreign supporters, joined the international protest yesterday.
"Pakistan attaches great importance to and supports the preservation of the world's historical, cultural and religious heritage," the foreign ministry said.
"We appeal to the Afghan government to take measures to fully protect Afghanistan's rich historical monuments, sites and artefacts which are part of the world's cultural heritage."
India said it would try to stop the destruction.
"The government of India will raise this issue at every international forum including the United Nations. We will make all attempts to stop the demolition of Lord Buddha's statue," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, said.
Thailand and Sri Lanka - both largely Buddhist nations - have made similar appeals.
Earlier this week, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, urged the Taliban "to do all in their power to preserve the unique and irreplaceable relics of Afghanistan's rich heritage, both Islamic and pre-Islamic," a spokesman said.
Russia denounced the Taliban step as vandalism. "This intention [to destroy the statues] can only be classed as an assault on cultural and historical treasures, not only of the Afghan people but of world civilisation," the Russian foreign ministry said yesterday.
Germany also condemned the Taliban action. "Germany is appalled by the wilful destruction of cultural artefacts in Afghanistan. The damage to culturally unique Buddha statues by the Taliban cannot be justified," the foreign ministry said.
Taliban officials insist there will no reversal.
A fundamentalist movement that regards all human likenesses of divinity to be un-Islamic, the Taliban has steadily conquered most of Afghanistan in recent years, and now controls its cities and highways.
The destruction of artefacts - also under way in the national museum in Kabul, which housed a prized collection of early Buddhist statues - has inflicted new damage to the Taliban's already poor ties with most countries.