International phone links have been established between Afghanistan and 13 other countries.

News of the international phone link reached the BBC late last night.

The local phone in our Kabul office rang and on the other end was a producer from the BBC Pashtu language service in London.

It was quite astonishing.

The news means that for the first time in seven years, the huge Afghan population living abroad can telephone their relatives back home, and the list of countries that can be contacted is growing.

Foreign organisations here use satellite phones along with the Taleban and the Afghan opposition - and several years ago, a satellite call centre was opened.

But a minute's call there cost the ordinary Afghan half a month's wages.

Isolation

Most people have just become used to international isolation.

Afghanistan has the highest refugee population in the world.

Twenty years of war has also resulted in the destruction of the country's infrastructure and that means contacting family abroad requires persistence.

Usually, people travelling to and from Afghanistan, are weighed down by messages.

But last year an American company announced it was reactivating the country's international phone service and installing a mobile system.

Their first move was to open a call centre in Kabul where people could phone abroad.

But investment had to stop when the US imposed sanctions on Afghanistan.

The company has said the new international link was the result of work undertaken before sanctions.

At the moment, calls can only be made to people living in Kabul and Kandahar via the operator.

But when the company is able to establish its mobile phone network, the link will be countrywide.