ISLAMABAD The leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taleban has shrugged off criticism of his order for all statues in the country to be smashed. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Mullah Muhammad Omar -- supreme leader of the radical Taleban militia as saying that keeping statues was a sin and illegal. "I don't care about anything else but Islam," he said in an interview. The Taleban on Monday ordered all statues in the country to be smashed, putting a question mark over the fate of ancient and world-renowned Buddhist monuments in the war-ravaged country. All statues remaining in various parts of the country must be broken ... They represent gods of infidels, the order said. It drew immediate criticism from the United Nations Cultural Agency UNESCO. "Situated at a crossroads of the ancient silk routes, Afghanistan enjoys a unique cultural heritage marked by multiple influences from Persia, Greece, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam," the agency said. This ancient heritage has suffered cruelly under the conflicts and disasters that have shaken the country recently. Archaeologists have expressed concern for Afghanistan's best-known archaeological site -- two giant Buddhas hewn from cliffs in the central town of Bamiyan that date from before the arrival of Islam in the ninth century. The head of one of the Buddhas was blown off around the time the Taleban first took Bamiyan in 1998. AIP also quoted Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil as saying the latest decree would not harm relations with the rest of the world. Only three countries, including Pakistan, recognize the Taleban as a government in Afghanistan. (Reuter)