In a packed control center surrounded by numerous TV screens, the Taliban’s police force proudly showcases its newly established network of 90,000 CCTV cameras, used to monitor the daily lives of millions.
“We oversee the entire city of Kabul from here,” says Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Taliban police chief, pointing to one of the monitors.
Authorities claim the surveillance system will help combat crime, but critics worry it will be used to suppress dissent and enforce the Taliban’s strict moral code under their interpretation of Sharia law.
The surveillance system shown to the media in Kabul includes facial recognition capabilities. One screen displays images with faces categorized by age range, gender, and whether individuals have a beard or are wearing a face mask.
“On clear days, we can zoom in on individuals from kilometers away,” Zadran says, demonstrating a high-positioned camera focusing on a busy traffic intersection.
Even Taliban personnel are monitor. At a checkpoint, as soldiers inspected a car trunk, operators zoomed in to examine the contents closely.
The interior ministry claims the cameras have “significantly contributed to enhancing safety, curbing crime rates, and swiftly apprehending offenders.” It reports a 30% drop in crime between 2023 and 2024 due to CCTV and motorcycle controls, though independent verification of these figures is not possible.
However, rights organizations are concerned about who is being watched and for how long.
Amnesty International warns that installing cameras “under the guise of ‘national security’ sets a precedent for the Taliban to continue draconian policies that violate fundamental rights, especially those of women in public spaces.”
Legally, women are not allowed to be heard outside their homes, though enforcement varies. Teenage girls are barred from secondary and higher education, and women are restricted from many jobs. In December, women training as midwives and nurses told the media they had been ordered not to return to classes.
While women remain visible on the streets of Kabul, they must wear a face covering.
Fariba*, a young graduate living with her parents in Kabul, has been unable to find work since the Taliban took control. She expresses concern that surveillance cameras might be used to monitor women’s adherence to dress codes.
The Taliban claim only the city police have access to the CCTV system and that the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which enforces morality laws, does not use it.
However, Fariba fears the cameras will further endanger those opposed to Taliban rule.
“Many individuals, especially former military personnel, human rights activists, and protesting women, struggle to move freely and often live in secrecy,” she says.
Police insist data is retained for only three months, and the interior ministry states the cameras “are operated from a special, fully confidential room by a designated professional.”
The cameras appear to be Chinese-made. The control room monitors and branding on the video feeds viewed by the media displayed the name Dahua, a Chinese government-linked company. Previous reports suggested the Taliban were negotiating with Huawei to acquire cameras, but the company denied these claims. Taliban officials declined to answer questions about where they sourced the equipment.
Some of the financial burden of installing the surveillance network falls on ordinary Afghans being monitored.
In central Kabul, Shella* told the media that she was required to contribute toward the cost of cameras installed near her home.
“They demanded thousands of afghanis from every household,” she says, a substantial sum in a country where employed women earn around 5,000 afghanis ($68; £54) a month.
The media is the first international outlet allowed to observe the system in operation.
Inside the control room, police officers sit in rows, monitoring live feeds from thousands of cameras, tracking the daily activities of Kabul’s six million residents. From car license plates to facial expressions, everything is under surveillance.
“In certain neighborhoods, if we see groups of people and suspect involvement in drug use, criminal activities, or anything suspicious, we alert local police,” says Zadran. “They respond quickly to investigate.”
Under the previous government, Kabul faced daily threats from Taliban and Islamic State militants, as well as kidnappings and carjackings. When the Taliban regained power in 2021, they pledged to crack down on crime.
The sharp increase in surveillance cameras reflects a growing sophistication in the Taliban’s enforcement tactics. Before their return, only 850 cameras were installed in the capital, according to a former security forces spokesperson.
However, over the past three years, the Taliban has also imposed strict measures including to monitor curbing personal freedoms, especially for women. The Taliban government remains unrecognized by any other country.
The humanitarian crisis in Kabul, and Afghanistan as a whole, remains dire after years of conflict. The economy is in shambles, and international aid has been largely cut off since the Taliban’s return. According to the United Nations, 30 million Afghans require humanitarian assistance.
“If families refused to pay [for the cameras that monitor lives], they were threatened with water and power cuts within three days,” Shella adds. “We had to take loans to cover the costs.
“People are starving—what good are these cameras to them or the urge to monitor?”
The Taliban maintain that contributions were voluntary and relatively small.
“Participation was voluntary, and donations were in the hundreds, not thousands,” insists Khalid Zadran.
Despite these assurances, rights activists inside and outside Afghanistan remain concerned about how such an extensive surveillance system will be used.
Jaber, a vegetable seller in Kabul, sees the cameras as another means of control.
“We are treated like trash, denied the ability to earn a living, and the authorities see us as worthless,” he tells the media.
“We can do nothing.”
