KABUL: After bearing the brunt of jihadist dynamite and looting by thieves, the archaeological treasures of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province are facing a new and possibly more daunting threat: climate change.

Nestled in the heart of the Hindu Kush mountains, the Bamiyan valley’s picturesque cliffs — where centuries-old Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 — still contain a network of caves housing temples, monasteries and Buddhist paintings.