Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant.

BBC: The hunt for Bamiyan's third Buddha

Mes Aynak is a sprawling, mountainous, 9, 800-acre site studded with artifacts that archaeologists believe are as significant as the Bamiyan Buddhas, as well as the remains of civilizations that stretch back to the time of Alexander the Great.

WSJ: In Afghanistan, a Rush to Save Buried Treasure

Bamiyan and the Buddhas remain firmly under the control of the forces of Hezb-i-Whadat.

BBC: A visit to the giant Buddhas

The Old Mostar Bridge, the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, and now the Mausoleums of Timbuktu.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

We all remember the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

For 1, 500 years, the sandstone cliffs of afghanistan's Bamiyan valley encased two towering Buddhas peering sleepily from their caves onto patches of magnolia trees.

WSJ: In Afghanistan, a Rush to Save Buried Treasure