Fears over 2,100-year-old Kabul treasure

Art experts fear a sealed vault will not save a 2,100-year-old horde of gold which is buried underneath a Kabul palace.

As the US continues its bombardment of Afghanistan, experts fear the treasures will be destroyed or melted down by the Taliban.

They want the UN to rescue the gold antiquities before it is too late.

Christian Manhart, a specialist in Asian cultural heritage at Unesco, said: "We are very concerned the Taliban will get in.

"They have tried to break through the enforced concrete walls, so far without success."

Known as the Treasure of Bactria, the hoard contains over 20,000 gold statues, necklaces and ornaments set with precious stones, reports The Times.

Mr Manhart says the treasure was last seen by a group of international archaeologists in 1993 when the safe was opened to dispel rumours that the Afghans had sold it.

It was excavated in 1978, when the county's former Communist ruler President Najibullah sealed it in seven trunks and hid it in a vault carved out of rock, protected by a steel door, bolted shut by seven locks with keys held by seven different people.