Soaring production: Kite makers prepare for flying season

KABUL - Surrounded by bright-colored tissue paper and bamboo sticks, Afghan kite maker Halim Muhammadi and his children sit in their modest living room in Kabul assembling kites in preparation for the city's flying season.

After selling hundreds of thousands of kites during the cooler months, particularly in spring when flying conditions are ideal, kite makers spend the rest of the year replenishing their stocks.

A single kite takes only minutes to make. Muhammadi, 50, expertly cuts a piece of delicate tissue paper into a diamond shape and glues it to a thin bamboo frame - skills he has honed since he was a child.