The "eyes" of the Taliban

Inside the control room, police officers sit in rows, watching live feeds from thousands of cameras, and observing the lives of the six million people who live in the capital, Kabul. From car license plates to facial expressions, everything is monitored. Authorities say such surveillance will help fight crime, but critics fear it will be used to suppress dissent and monitor adherence to the strict code of morality, which is enforced by the Taliban's Islamist government based on their interpretation of Sharia law.

In a crowded control center, surrounded by dozens of television screens, the Taliban police force proudly displays the network of 90 cameras used to monitor the daily lives of millions of people.

"We monitor the entire city of Kabul from here," says Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Taliban police.

Authorities say such surveillance will help fight crime, but critics fear it will be used to suppress dissent and monitor adherence to the strict code of morality, which is enforced by the Islamic Taliban government based on their interpretation of Sharia law.

BBC journalists are the first international journalists to be allowed to see this system.

Inside the control room, police officers sit in rows, watching live feeds from thousands of cameras, and observing the lives of the six million people who live in Kabul.

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From car license plates to facial expressions, everything is monitored.

"In certain neighborhoods, when we notice groups of people and suspect they may be involved in drug use, criminal activity or something suspicious, we quickly turn to the local police," says Zadran.

"They then quickly arrive at the scene to investigate the nature of the gathering."

Under the previous government, Kabul faced daily attacks from the Taliban and so-called Islamic State militants, as well as high-profile kidnappings and carjackings. When the Taliban regained power in 2021, they promised to fight crime.

The dramatic increase in the number of surveillance cameras in the capital is a sign of the growing sophistication of the Taliban in how they enforce law and order. Before their return, only 850 cameras were deployed in the capital, according to a security forces spokesman who was ousted from power.

Yet, in the past three years, the Taliban authorities have also introduced a series of draconian measures that restrict people's rights and freedoms, especially those of women. The Taliban government is not officially recognized by any other country.

The surveillance system, which the BBC saw in Kabul, includes the option to identify people by facial features. In the corner of one of the screens, images are displayed with each face categorized by age group, gender and whether they have a beard or a mask.

"On clear days, we can zoom in and identify individuals who are miles away," says Zadran, pointing to a camera positioned at a busy intersection.

The Taliban even monitor their own personnel. At one checkpoint, as soldiers open the trunk of a car for inspection, operators focus their camera lenses to examine the contents inside.

The Interior Ministry says the cameras “have contributed significantly to increasing security, curbing crime rates and quickly apprehending offenders.” According to the ministry, camera surveillance and motorcycle checks have led to a 30% reduction in crime rates between 2023 and 2024, but it is not possible to independently verify these figures.

However, rights groups have expressed concern over who is being monitored and for how long.

Amnesty International says that installing cameras "under the guise of 'national security' provides the Taliban with a kind of security to continue exercising their draconian policies that violate the fundamental rights of people in Afghanistan, especially women in public spaces."

By law, women are not allowed to be heard outside their homes, although in practice this is not strictly enforced. Teenagers are not allowed to attend school or attend classes in secondary and higher education. The vast majority of women are prohibited from working. In December, women training as midwives and nurses told the BBC that they had been ordered to stop attending classes.

Although women continue to be present on the streets of cities like Kabul, they are required to cover their faces.

Fariba*, a young graduate who lives with her parents in Kabul, has been unable to find work since the Taliban came to power. She tells the BBC that she is "very concerned that surveillance cameras could be used to monitor the wearing of the hijab".

The Taliban say that only the city police have access to the surveillance camera system and that the Taliban morality police do not use it.

But Fariba is concerned that the cameras will further endanger those who oppose Taliban rule.

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"Many individuals, especially former soldiers, human rights lawyers and women who oppose the system, struggle to move freely and often live in secret," she says.

"There is great concern that surveillance cameras will also be used to monitor hijabs," she adds.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, says that Afghanistan has no data protection law that would regulate how footage from these cameras is used. 

Police say the data is only stored for three months, while, according to the Ministry of Interior, the cameras do not pose a threat to privacy as they are "operated from a separate and completely confidential room, by a specific and professional person in charge."

The cameras appear to be made in China. The brand on the control room monitors seen by the BBC was Dahua, a company linked to the Chinese government. Earlier reports that the Taliban were in talks with China's Huawei Technologies to buy the cameras were denied by the company. Taliban officials refused to answer BBC questions about where they had obtained the equipment.

Part of the cost of installing the new network falls on ordinary Afghans who are being monitored by the system.

In a house in central Kabul, the BBC spoke to Shellan*, who was asked to pay for some of the cameras installed on the streets near her home.

“They demanded payment from thousands of Afghans,” she says. It’s a huge sum in a country where those women who work can only earn about $68 a month.

The humanitarian situation in Kabul, and in Afghanistan in general, remains precarious after years of war. The country's economy is in crisis, and international aid has all but dried up since the Taliban returned to power.

According to the United Nations, 30 million people are in need of assistance.

“If families refused to pay for the cameras, they were threatened with water and electricity cuts within three days,” adds Shella*. “We had to take out loans to cover the costs.”

"People are hungry, what good are these cameras for them?"

The Taliban say that if people do not want to contribute, they can file a formal complaint.

"Participation was voluntary and donations were in the hundreds, not thousands," insists Khalid Zadran, the Taliban police spokesman.

Despite the assurances, human rights activists, both inside and outside Afghanistan, continue to have concerns about how such a powerful surveillance system will be used.

Jaber, a vegetable vendor in Kabul, says the cameras represent another way Afghans are powerless.

"We are treated like trash, we are denied the opportunity to earn a living and the authorities consider us worthless," he told the BBC.

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"We can't do anything."

*The names of the women interviewed have been changed for their safety.