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| Dar-ul-Aman palace in Kabul today |
The President of Afghanistan Dr Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the historic Dar-ul-Aman palace in Kabul yesterday May 30, 2016. The reconstruction work of the palace will be carried out by the Ministry of Urban Development Affairs of Afghanistan. Ghani gave his approval for restoration of the edifice three months ago.
“Shattered Dar-ul-Aman Palace is a reminder of our darkest days. Thus, I’ve approved its restoration work today,” wrote the President on March 9, 2016 on Twitter. President Ghani delivered remarks at the inauguration of the project by participating in the first meeting of High Commission of Urban Development.
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Dar-ul-Aman palace in Kabul
before being destroyed |
The Darul Aman Palace, literally “The Abode of Peace”, is a western-style palace built by the King Amanullah Khan in the southwest of Kabul. It was intended to serve as a parliament building within his new capital, but opposition to the King’s reform efforts prevented the building from being put to use. A fire broke out in 1969 which left it severely damaged. Although later restored and used by the Ministry of Defense, the building was again engulfed in flames in 1978, only to be reused again throughout the 1980s. Finally, fighting between Mujahideen forces occupying Kabul in the 1990s left the building in almost total ruins with large portions of the ceiling collapsed. Enough of the structure survived that a plan was put forward in 2005 to restore the building to house Afghanistan’s future parliament. However, the plan has yet to be approved and no work had been conducted as of June 2011.
