Local authorities have said authorities are ready to feed the birds if mosque officials allow. (AFP)
Mazar-i-Sharif:
More than 1,000 doves died of hunger in the famous Afghan mosque with blue tiles of Mazar-i-Sharif after its closure to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the guards said on Tuesday.
Before the mosque complex closed in the middle of a nationwide lock, flocks of snow-white birds gathered at the popular tourist attraction, where visitors fed them.
But with no visitors to the 12th-century wonder in the northern Afghan province of Balkh, the doves ate little, the guards said.
“Every day, around 30 doves die. We bury them outside the sanctuary,” said Qayum Ansari, head of cultural affairs for the mosque, adding that more than 1,000 birds have starved to death in recent weeks.
Doves have been a must for decades, some visitors even consider them sacred.
“The birds were fed by the visitors but since the lockup, no one has come,” said Ahmed Naweed, the mosque’s caretaker.
Local authorities have said authorities are ready to feed the birds if mosque officials allow.
“We will buy bird food for them,” said Munir Farhad, spokesman for the governor of the province of Balkh.
The mosque, which is decorated with intricate hand-painted tiles, was destroyed by Genghis Khan and his army in the 13th century, but was rebuilt and became an important pilgrimage center for Muslims.
The coronavirus crisis in Afghanistan is getting worse by the day, with authorities reporting 21,459 confirmed cases to date, although the actual number appears to be much higher.
Experts say the country has one of the highest rates of positive tests – around 40 percent, indicating high levels of undetected infections.
Authorities have warned that the country is facing a “disaster”, with hospitals running out of beds as suspected cases soar.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
