Exclusive: Taliban weighs using U.S. mass surveillance plan, met with China’s Huawei.

An interior ministry spokesman told Reuters that the Taliban are developing a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that may involve adapting an American plan before their 2021 withdrawal. This development comes as authorities work to supplement the thousands of cameras already positioned throughout the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban government, which has stated publicly that it is primarily concerned with reestablishing security and suppressing the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for numerous significant attacks in Afghan towns, has also spoken with Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei about possible collaboration, the spokesman added.

According to readouts from such discussions, the Taliban’s involvement with several other countries, including the U.S. and China, is centered on preventing assaults by international militant groups, particularly well-known organizations like the Islamic State. However, some observers doubt the regime’s ability to pay for the initiative, and rights groups are worried that any funding will be used to repress demonstrators.

There have been no prior reports on how the Taliban seeks to increase and handle mass monitoring, including acquiring the U.S. plan.

According to Ministry of Interior spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, the mass camera rollout, which will concentrate on “important points” in Kabul and other locations, is a component of a new security policy that will take four years to implement.

We are currently working on a security map of Kabul, which is taking a long time and the help of security professionals, he said. We already have two maps, one from the United States made for the previous administration and the other for Turkey.

He made no mention of the creation date of the Turkish proposal.

Speaking on behalf of the State Department, the United States claimed that it was not “partnering” with the Taliban and that it had “made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists.”

Requests for comment from a representative of the Turkish government were not answered.

Qani claimed that in August, the Taliban and Huawei [RIC: HWT. U.L.] had a “simple chat” regarding the potential network, but no agreements or concrete plans had been made.

According to a source familiar with the conversations, Bloomberg News reported in August that Huawei had reached a “verbal agreement” with the Taliban regarding a deal to set up a surveillance system.

In September, Huawei informed Reuters that “no plan was discussed” at the meeting.

However, she said, “China has always supported the peace and reconstruction process in Afghanistan and supported Chinese enterprises to carry out relevant practical cooperation.” A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said she was unaware of any specific negotiations.

POWER CUTS AND RIGHTS QUESTIONS
According to the Taliban, approximately 62,000 cameras throughout Kabul and other cities are watched over from a centralized control room. The prior administration, which mainly relied on Western-led international forces for security, claimed that the last significant modification to Kabul’s camera system occurred in 2008.

In January 2021, when NATO-led international forces began to withdraw progressively, then-vice president Amrullah Saleh promised his administration would introduce a significant overhaul to Kabul’s video monitoring system. He informed reporters that the NATO coalition supported the $100 million initiative.

“The arrangement we had planned in early 2021 was different,” Saleh said to Reuters in September, adding that the “infrastructure” for the 2021 plan had been damaged.

It was unclear whether the plan Saleh referred to was comparable to those the Taliban claimed to have obtained and whether the administration would alter them.

A surveillance system would be “useful for the Taliban as it seeks to prevent groups like the Islamic State from attacking Taliban members or government positions in Kabul,” according to Jonathan Schroeder, a specialist on Afghanistan with the Center for Naval Analyses.

The Taliban maintains constant roadblocks and security force vehicles to monitor urban areas actively.

Rights activists and regime critics fear increased surveillance may target protestors and members of civil society.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 64 journalists have been jailed since the takeover, though the Taliban rarely confirms arrests. According to demonstrators, videos, and Reuters witnesses, security personnel in Kabul violently dispersed protests against limitations on women.

Mass surveillance programs being implemented “under the guise of ‘national security’ set a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights,” according to Matt Mahmoudi of Amnesty International.

The Taliban vehemently disputes that an improved surveillance system will violate Afghans’ human rights. According to Qani, the system is equivalent to those used by other big cities and will be run by Islamic Sharia law, which forbids recording in private areas.

Security analysts claim that the plan confronts real-world difficulties.

Daily power outages in Afghanistan make it unlikely that cameras connected to the main grid deliver reliable feeds. According to the government-owned power company, just 40% of Afghans have access to electricity.

After a severe economic downturn and the removal of considerable aid following their takeover, the Taliban also needed to find finance.

According to the Taliban army chief, the administration claimed in 2022 to have an annual budget of more than $2 billion, most of which goes toward defense.

LIBERATION RISKS

A few months before the conversation with Huawei, China met with Pakistan and the temporary foreign minister of the Taliban. During that time, the parties emphasized their commitment to counterterrorism cooperation. Another important component of the 2020 troop departure agreement that the United States made with the Taliban is dealing with militancy.

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an armed separatist group operating in China’s western Xinjiang region, has drawn China’s public concern. According to security sources and U.N. data, ETIM probably has a few militants in Afghanistan. ETIM was unavailable for comment.

Foreigners in Afghanistan have also received threats from the Islamic State. Last year, its fighters stormed a popular hotel with Chinese executives, injuring several Chinese nationals. One of its attacks also resulted in the death of a Russian official.

The Taliban asserts that there is no threat to their authority from militancy and that no assaults would originate in Afghanistan. They have made raids on Islamic State cells in Kabul publically known.

Thomas West, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated at a public seminar on September 12 that Taliban attacks in Afghanistan had eliminated at least eight significant officials of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, some of whom were in charge of foreign plotting.

According to a U.N. monitoring assessment from July, there may be as many as 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their families in Afghanistan. Urban surveillance, according to analysts, won’t completely solve their existence.

According to Schroden, the eastern mountainous regions of Afghanistan are where Islamic State fighters’ “home bases” are located. Therefore, while cameras in cities may help avoid attacks, they are unlikely to contribute to their eventual defeat significantly.