In response to rising environmental and regional instability, UNESCO has granted Emergency Enhanced Protection to the cluster of pre-Islamic mud-brick citadels located in Afghanistan's Helmand Valley. These structures, dating back to the Saka and Parthian periods, represent some of the most sophisticated early earth-engineering in Central Asia.
The designation provides international legal immunity to the sites and unlocks emergency funding for structural stabilization using traditional mud-plastering techniques. The citadels are considered vital for understanding the transition of urban settlements along the southern Silk Road branches before the arrival of Islam.