In a dusty, windswept valley 20 miles southwest of Kabul there stands a cluster of derelict buildings, littered with shrapnel, shell casings and unexploded ordnance.

It is an unremarkable scene by Afghan standards – at first sight, just another sad monument to three decades of war.

When Afghans turn on their televisions, they do not want to be regaled with current affairs or debates on the Koran. Instead, they want Indian soap operas, complete with sari-clad women and convoluted love stories.

CNN -- Camels and caravans once carried vast treasures into Afghanistan along the Silk Road.

Today, in the aftermath of two decades of civil war, technology is beginning to return some of that wealth to the shattered country. Although deeply divided by geography and ethnicity, a nascent technological boom in Afghanistan is spreading beyond the cities and has the potential to reshape the country.

An intelligence-sharing centre betweeen Afghanistan, NATO and Pakistan has opened in the Afghan border town of Torkham.