iPhones to currency exchange: Some biz making money out of Taliban rule

Yunis Safi, a businessman in Kabul, knows very well the importance of showing off your phone if you want something done. In Afghanistan, your phone is your personality, he said, smiling, a jewel-encrusted ring on each hand.

One boasts an emerald, the other a fat Russian diamond. When you go to a meeting with the government, the better your phone, the more they respect you. Safi runs a phone shop in the posh Shar-e-Naw neighbourhood. An armed guard stands outside.