Taliban Expands CCTV Surveillance With 90,000 Cameras. How Are They Used To Monitor Millions?

Last Updated:February 28, 2025, 08:14 IST

The Taliban have increased the number of CCTV cameras in Kabul from 850 to 90,000, which also includes facial recognition. The Taliban police claims this network has been implemented to fight crime.

The Taliban expanded their surveillance network to 90,000 cameras in Kabul. (Representative Image)

The Taliban police in Afghanistan have expanded their CCTV surveillance with a newly acquired network of 90,000 cameras, which are used to watch over the daily lives of millions of people.

Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban police chief, said, “We monitor the entire city of Kabul from here." While authorities say this expanded surveillance will help fight crime, critics fear it will be used to crack down on dissent and monitor the strict Sharia law-era morality code enforced by the Taliban.

According to a report by the BBC, which was among the first allowed to see the system in action, the surveillance is used to monitor almost everything, from car licence plates to the facial expressions of millions of Afghans.

Two police officers are seated in a crowded control centre in Kabul, surrounded by dozens of TV screens, where they keep tabs on the lives of over six million people. “On clear days, we can zoom in on individuals [who are] kilometres away," said Zadran, highlighting a camera that focused on a busy traffic junction.

Who Made These Cameras And How They Are Used?

The cameras appear to be Chinese-made and the control room monitors and branding on the feeds the BBC saw carried the name Dahua, a Chinese government-linked company.

“In certain neighbourhoods, when we notice groups of people and suspect they might be involved in drug use, criminal activities, or something suspicious, we quickly reach out to the local police," said Zadran. “They arrive swiftly to investigate the nature of the gathering."

The Taliban has expanded its CCTV surveillance network as a measure to tackle criminal activities. The previous Afghan government saw almost daily attacks from the Taliban and Islamic State militants, accompanied by high-profile kidnappings and carjackings.

The previous government led by Ashraf Ghani used just 850 CCTV cameras in the capital. When the Taliban retook power in 2021 following the chaotic US withdrawal, they promised to crack down on crime and increased the number of CCTV cameras to 90,000, showing a sophistication in their approach to maintaining law and order.

The Taliban’s interior ministry said the cameras have “significantly contributed to enhancing safety, curbing crime rates, and swiftly apprehending offenders", with a 30% decrease in crime rates between 2023 and 2024, but these claims have not been independently verified.

Additionally, these cameras are used to even monitor the Taliban’s own personnel, according to the BBC. At a checkpoint, as soldiers popped open the trunk of a car for inspection, the operators focused their lenses, zooming in to scrutinise the contents within.

Concerns Over Taliban’s CCTV Network

The expanded surveillance has also prompted concerns since Taliban authorities introduced a range of harsh measures limiting people’s rights and freedoms, particularly those of women. American actor Meryl Streep once said a “squirrel has more rights" than a girl in Afghanistan.

Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions – including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public – which the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid".

The surveillance system in Kabul features the option to track people by facial recognition, which can categorise each face by age range, gender and whether or not they have a beard or a face mask, fuelling concerns that the Taliban may use this system to further clamp down on its harsh restrictions on public life.

Rights group Amnesty said that installing cameras “under the guise of ‘national security’ sets a template for the Taliban to continue their draconian policies that violate fundamental rights of people in Afghanistan – especially women in public spaces".

Fariba (name changed) told the BBC that there was “significant concern" that these surveillance cameras may be used to monitor women’s hijabs. “Many individuals, especially ex-military members, human rights advocates and protesting women, struggle to move freely and often live in secrecy," she said.

Meanwhile, as Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian situation remains precarious after years of war due to international aid being cut off, some of the cost of installing the new network has fallen on the shoulders of ordinary Afghans who are being monitored by the system.

“They demanded thousands of afghanis from every household," said Sheila (name changed), a big currency considering that a few women who have jobs earn only 5,000 afghanis (Rs 5,900). “If families refused to pay [for the cameras], they were threatened with water and power cuts within three days," she added.

“People are starving – what good are these cameras to them?" she added. However, the Taliban police insisted that donations were voluntary.

Kabul, Afghanistan

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