Houses in the prosperous Wazir Akbar Khan area that two years ago could be rented for as little as US$200 a month now go for up to US$25,000
AFP , KABUL
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2003,Page 5
"Half of Kabul is destroyed and there is a flow of refugees and few houses, so of course the prices go up."
Anayatullah Yadgar, Kabul property agent
Two years after the fall of the Taliban, vast swathes of the Afghan capital are bombed-out testimonies to decades of conflict, but property prices are soaring even as thousands of returning refugees and displaced people wonder how they will survive the winter.
Refugees find shelter in tents and blasted ruins while across town in Kabul's affluent Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, which emerged from decades of conflict relatively unscathed, rents have soared more than 20-fold.
Kabul fell to anti-Taliban US-backed forces two years ago this Thursday.
Some 2.5 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan since, with a large portion swelling the Afghan capital. Some 1,100 families are living in tents on public land.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/11/12/2003075546Let me guess who the Slum Lords are? The Bush Family Real Estate Group.