Here are my 0.02 euros: I have touched few lohars, I owned one for long time. The Tajiks call it Dos. As I learned there it was a weapon. Now days they make new fancy ones for “tourist” market. Of course the only “tourists” in Afghanistan are soldiers of ISAF and some civilian NGOs. The ones with only one side decorated are modern.
On the other hand, Radu’s info (hi Radu, we missed you
) has a logic base. Summer in Kabul is hot as hell. Electricity even today is rare in the center of city and it is not spread in the country. But the high mountains around have ice all the summer, so it is still business to sell ice. I think now it is more a product than a harvest from the mountains but still the traditions are not gone.