New Delhi, Dec. 27 -- Through the decades, downtown Kabul's Ariana Cinema had weathered revolution and war, emerging battered and bruised but still standing to entertain Afghans with Bollywood movies and American action flicks. Now, it is no more.

On Dec. 16, demolition crews began to tear down the historic cinema, which first opened its doors to moviegoers in the early 1960s. A week later, there was nothing left.

"It's not just a building made of bricks and cement that is being destroyed, but the Afghan cinema lovers who resisted and continued their art despite the hardships and severe security problems," Afghan film director and actor Amir Shah Talash told The Associated Press. "Unfortunately, all the signs of historical Afghanistan a...