In a country where music was silenced in the name of religion for five years, the beat is back and even rock shares the airwaves with the romantic strains of traditional Afghan songs.

Afghans are used to having their days broken by a burst of gunfire or the boom of an explosion. Now, they face the barrage of drumming, bass beats and amped-up guitar of a growing rock music scene.

The classical music scene is seeing a revival too. The Afghanistan National Institute of Music has operated for two years at its current site in west Kabul, training young musicians in traditional music lore.

The Taliban, who banned all music as sinful under sharia law while they were in power between 1996 and 2001, are now waging an insurgency against the Western-backed government -- but they can't stop the music.

– Photos and text by Agencies