The United States has returned 113 pieces of stolen artefacts to Pakistan this week.
According to the state media, the antiques returned to Pakistan are worth over $13 million.
This was marked as the fifth transfer of such antiques to Pakistan that were stolen and dated back to the Gandhara period.
The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported, “The United States returned to Pakistan 133 pieces of stolen antiquities worth over $13 million at a ceremony at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York on Tuesday.”
APP further informed, “The consul general also signed an agreement with the Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, Matthew Bogdanos, who heads the Antiquities Trafficking Unit for the repatriation of the returned artefacts to Pakistan.”
Aamer Ahmed Atozai, the council general in New York, who received the artifacts on behalf of the Government of Pakistan extended his gratitude to the District Attorney’s office, its Antiquities Trafficking Unit, and the Department of Homeland Security for their efforts in retrieving stolen cultural treasure and heritage of Pakistan.
Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan said that he was happy to return these ‘glorious pieces of Pakistani heritage’ to Pakistan.
Additionally, two years back, in 2022, the US returned 192 stolen artefacts from Pakistan worth more than $3.4 million.
