The arrival at the Kabul airport dispels any doubts a first-time visitor may have that Afghanistan is in the thick of a major fight for survival.

Military helicopters line up the length of the runway in obvious battle readiness. A glance beyond the apron reveals a US army base bustling with humvees - armed personnel carriers and communications gadgetry. Tonnes of other militaryware lie about in heaps, covered in camouflage material.

The terminal building is a telling relic of war. The walls are decorated with bullet holes and the ongoing reconstruction works are dragging but determined.

Turmoil reigns at the baggage hall as journey-weary passengers push and shove in a frantic effort to reconnect with their bags - thanks to a dysfunctional conveyor belt that now ensures they are transferred manually from the plane and placed in a heap. Rich in history, Kabul dates back to 1504 when celebrated warrior Babur Shah captured it and made it the headquarters of his Moghul Empire.

Babur remains revered, and million-dollar rehablitation works on his six-acre, war-wrecked palace are ongoing, thanks to efforts led by the Geneva-based Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme.

One of the world's highest capital cities in altitude, Kabul sits close to the strategic Khyber Pass, a fact that has over the years attracted the occupation by British and Russian forces. In the streets guns are at the ready every direction you look, but life goes on for the locals.

Hawkers push and shove to sell their wares, most of them being Chinese-made plastic products, clothes and agricultural produce in season.

Technicians

It is both shocking and pleasant to discover that deep in this city, ruled until 2001 by the Taliban, there are Kenyans eking out a living - telecommunications technicians, NGO consultants and even gym instructors.

Mr Fred Jaoko, an instructor at the Kabul Serena's health club, has been a resident since August, last year, when he arrived here through Dubai. "I knew life would be different when I was put through a two-week mandatory security training session before moving here," he says.

"But we get a very refreshing two-week break every three months and this helps us to get out of Afghanistan and recharge." Mr Jaoko and three colleagues at the gym - all of them Kenyans - have two rules to help them avoid running afoul of the locals: Demonstrate that you respect them and avoid negative talk about their culture. "One key thing for foreigners is that Afghans are very protective of their women," he says.

"Hanging around with their women is a taboo (to foreigners), and anybody who punishes you for this is considered a hero.

The consumption of alcohol in public and going out in a "revealing" dress also belong to the list of social indiscretions. The society is so conservative that the sole movie hall must screen films twice, first for men only and then for women.

While most foreigners are always keen targets of ransom-seeking kidnappers, Mr Jaoko and his colleagues say Africans tend not to be targets because the continent has not come out to strongly back any of the protagonists in the war against the Taliban.

The three Kenyans say they have met at least 20 compatriots in Kabul's social scene, most of them of Asian or Caucasian extraction and working mainly as consultants for NGOs and the government.

"But one indigenous Kenyan has bought land here; we are about seven in total," says Jaoko.

Despite its security hiccups, several private investors have climbed onto the mountainous country and are working hard at helping it to rise further. One such is mobile telephone firm Roshan, jointly owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed) 51 per cent, Monaco Telecom International (MTI) 36.75 per cent and MCT Corp 12.24 per cent.

Roshan today stands as the single largest investor in Afghanistan. The chief operations officer, Mr Alfaj Ladak, says that in its growth since inception four years ago, it has been able to develop creative programmes that not only help to anchor the business, but is also designed to empower the Afghan poor and provide a livelihood for reformed militias.

"Some of the job opportunities created by our operation here have been offered to support the Disarmament Demobilisation Reintegration (DDR) programme and also set up women and the handicapped in business," he says. With 1.2 million subscribers hooked to its network, the company accounts for nearly half of cellphones in Afghanistan and is currently in partnership with UK's Vodafone to roll out a mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa - a product whose global debut was by Kenya's Safaricom.

Most companies are forced to hire expensive and heavily-armed private security firms to ensure their installations and convoys are protected.

With the country's infrastructure in a shambles and its flourishing opium poppy farms still accounting for 90 per cent of the drug's world supply, Afghanistan has mounted a major offensive to refurbish its international image and attract the badly needed investor dollars.

Kabul is being styled to showcase investment opportunities. The city, home to nearly 3 million people, has refused to be put down by the security threats and the negative global publicity that every suicide bombing and missile attack visits on it.

Spanking-new SUVs and old battered tins-on-wheels fight for space in the streets. Fast and furious convoys of warlords escorted by private armies alternate on the roads with official ones protected by the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that helps to keep President Karzai's administration in power.

Security barriers, sandbag ramparts and concrete blocks bedeck every length of the roads, but this does not put off motorists, if the mid-morning traffic jams are anything to go by.

A good number of buildings are bombed out and deserted, while those occupied have tell-tale bullet holes all over the walls.