Kabul, Afghanistan:
The Taliban are creating a massive CCTV network covering Afghan cities, which could repurpose a plan the Americans drew up before their 2021 withdrawal, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters. Authorities are trying to supplement thousands of cameras already in the capital Kabul.
The Taliban government – which has publicly said it is focused on restoring security and suppressing Islamic State, which has claimed many major attacks in Afghan cities – has also discussed possible cooperation with Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei, the spokesperson said.
Preventing attacks by international militant groups – including prominent organizations such as Islamic State – is at the heart of the Taliban’s interaction with many foreign nations, including the US and China, the results of those meetings show. But some analysts question the cash-strapped regime’s ability to fund the program, and rights groups have expressed concern that all resources will be used to crack down on protesters.
Details on how the Taliban plans to expand and manage mass surveillance, including obtaining the U.S. plan, have not previously been reported.
The massive rollout of cameras, which will focus on “key points” in Kabul and elsewhere, is part of a new security strategy that will take four years to fully implement, said Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the ministry of Home Affairs, told Reuters.
“We are currently working on a security map of Kabul, which is being completed by security experts and will take a lot of time,” he said. “We already have two maps, one made by the US for the previous administration and the second by Turkey.”
He did not indicate when the Turkish plan was made.
A US State Department spokesperson said Washington had no “cooperation” with the Taliban and “has made it clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they do not provide safe haven to terrorists.”
A Turkish government spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
Qani said the Taliban had a “simple conversation” about the potential network with Huawei in August, but no contracts or final plans had been reached.
Bloomberg News reported in August that Huawei had reached a “verbal agreement” with the Taliban on a contract to install a surveillance system, citing a person familiar with the discussions.
Huawei told Reuters in September that “no plan was discussed” during the meeting.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she was not aware of specific discussions, but added: “China has always supported the peace and reconstruction process in Afghanistan and supported Chinese enterprises to establish relevant practical cooperation .”
Electricity outages, concerns about rights
According to the Taliban, there are more than 62,000 cameras in Kabul and other cities that are monitored from a central control room. The last major update to Kabul’s camera system took place in 2008, according to the former government, which relied heavily on Western-led international forces for security.
As NATO-led international forces gradually withdrew in January 2021, then-Vice President Amrullah Saleh said his government would undertake a massive upgrade of Kabul’s CCTV system. He told reporters that the $100 million plan was backed by the NATO coalition.
“The arrangement we planned at the beginning of 2021 was different,” Saleh told Reuters in September, adding that the “infrastructure” for the 2021 plan had been destroyed.
It was not clear whether the plan Saleh referred to was similar to those the Taliban say it has obtained, nor whether the government would change them.
Jonathan Schroden, an expert on Afghanistan at the Center for Naval Analyses, said a surveillance system would be “useful to the Taliban as it tries to prevent groups like the Islamic State from … targeting Taliban members or government positions in Kabul to attack.”
The Taliban already keep a close watch on urban centers with security force vehicles and regular checkpoints.
Proponents and opponents of regime rights are concerned that heightened surveillance could target members of civil society and protesters.
While the Taliban rarely confirm arrests, the Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 64 journalists have been arrested since taking power. Protests against restrictions on women in Kabul have been forcibly broken up by security forces, according to protesters, videos and witnesses seen by Reuters.
Implementing a mass surveillance system “under the guise of ‘national security’ provides a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights,” said Matt Mahmoudi of Amnesty International.
The Taliban strongly denies that an improved surveillance system would violate the rights of Afghans. Qani said the system was similar to what other major cities use and would be managed in accordance with Islamic Sharia law, which prohibits recording in private spaces.
The plan faces practical challenges, security analysts say.
Afghanistan’s intermittent daily power outages make it unlikely that cameras connected to the central power grid can provide consistent feeds. According to the state energy supplier, only 40% of Afghans have access to electricity.
The Taliban also need to find funding after a massive economic contraction and the withdrawal of much aid after taking power.
The government said in 2022 that it will have an annual budget of more than $2 billion, of which defense spending will make up the largest part, according to the Taliban army chief.
Militant risks
The conversation with Huawei took place months after China met with Pakistan and the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, after which the sides emphasized counter-terrorism cooperation. Addressing militancy is also a key aspect of the 2020 troop withdrawal agreement the United States signed with the Taliban.
China has publicly expressed concern over the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an armed separatist organization in the western Xinjiang region. Security officials and UN reports say ETIM likely has a small number of fighters in Afghanistan. ETIM could not be reached for comment.
The Islamic State has also threatened foreigners in Afghanistan. The fighters last year attacked a hotel popular with Chinese businessmen, wounding several Chinese citizens. A Russian diplomat was also killed in one of the attacks.
The Taliban denies that belligerence threatens their rule and says Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks elsewhere. They have publicly announced raids on Islamic State cells in Kabul.
“Since early 2023, Taliban incursions into Afghanistan have removed at least eight key leaders (of the Islamic State in Afghanistan), some of whom are responsible for external conspiracies,” Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, said at a public seminar of September 12.
A July UN monitoring report said there were up to 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their family members in Afghanistan. Analysts say city enforcement won’t fully address their presence.
The Afghan “home base” of Islamic State fighters is in the eastern mountain areas, Schroden said. “So while cameras in cities can help prevent attacks… they are unlikely to contribute much to their eventual defeat.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)