Reuters-Taliban weighs using US mass surveillance plan met with Chinas Huawei
September 25, 2023 6 min 1150 words
这篇报道揭示了塔利班计划在阿富汗城市建立大规模摄像头监控网络的情况，可能涉及重复利用美国在2021年撤离之前制定的计划。此外，他们还与中国电信设备制造商华为就潜在合作进行了磋商。这个计划旨在加强首都喀布尔已有的数千个摄像头，而塔利班政府声称他们的重点是恢复安全，并打击多次在阿富汗城市发动的伊斯兰国袭击。 从国际媒体报道中可以看出，阻止国际恐怖组织，包括伊斯兰国等突出组织的袭击，是塔利班与美国和中国等外国国家互动的核心问题。然而，一些分析人士对这个资金紧张的政权是否有能力资助这个计划提出了质疑，而人权组织也对任何资源是否会被用于镇压抗议活动表示担忧。 报道还指出，塔利班计划的细节，包括如何获取美国的计划，尚未被先前报道过。这一摄像头的大规模部署将涉及在喀布尔和其他地方的“重要点”进行关注，计划将需要四年才能完全实施。 在这个报道中，美国国务院发言人明确表示，华盛顿不会与塔利班合作，要求塔利班确保他们不给恐怖分子提供庇护。而土耳其政府发言人则没有回应评论请求。 塔利班发言人表示，他们在2023年8月与华为进行了“简单的对话”，但尚未达成合同或具体计划。然而，据彭博社报道，华为已经与塔利班达成了“口头协议”，计划安装一个监控系统。 报道还提到，人权倡导者和反对塔利班政权的人担心，加强监控可能会针对公民社会成员和抗议者。然而，塔利班坚决否认升级监控系统会侵犯阿富汗人的权利，他们表示，该系统将符合伊斯兰教法，禁止在私人空间进行录像。 然而，这个计划面临着实际挑战，包括阿富汗每天不断的电力中断，这意味着连接到中央电网的摄像头不太可能提供一致的视频流。此外，只有40%的阿富汗人可以获得电力。 此外，塔利班还需要在大规模经济萎缩和接管后撤回大部分援助之后寻找资金。该政府在2022年表示，其年度预算超过20亿美元，其中国防支出占最大部分。 最后，报道指出，中华人民共和国与巴基斯坦和塔利班代理外交部长会晤后，几个月后才与华为进行了讨论。中国公开表示关切中国西部新疆地区的东突厥斯坦伊斯兰运动（ETIM），这是一家武装分裂组织。安全官员和联合国报告称，ETIM可能在阿富汗拥有一小部分战士。 总之，这篇报道引发了对塔利班计划建立大规模监控系统的许多问题，包括其资金、人权和国际合作。它还突显了塔利班政权与中国和其他国家在反恐合作方面的互动，以及阿富汗的安全和稳定问题。这个情况需要继续关注和审视。
KABUL (Reuters) -The Taliban are creating a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that could involve repurposing a plan crafted by the Americans before their 2021 pullout, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters, as authorities seek to supplement thousands of cameras already across the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban administration — which has publicly said it is focused on restoring security and clamping down on Islamic State, which has claimed many major attacks in Afghan cities — has also consulted with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei about potential cooperation, the spokesman said.
Preventing attacks by international militant groups - including prominent organisations such as Islamic State - is at the heart of the interaction between the Taliban and many foreign nations, including the U.S. and China, according to readouts from those meetings. But some analysts question the cash-strapped regime’s ability to fund the program, and rights groups have expressed concern that any resources will be used to crackdown on protesters.
Details of how the Taliban intend to expand and manage mass surveillance, including obtaining the U.S. plan, have not been previously reported.
The mass camera rollout, which will involve a focus on “important points” in Kabul and elsewhere, is part of a new security strategy that will take four years to be fully implemented, Ministry of Interior spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.
“At the present we are working on a Kabul security map, which is (being completed) by security experts and (is taking) lots of time,” he said. “We already have two maps, one which was made by U.S.A for the previous government and second by Turkey.”
He did not detail when the Turkish plan was made.
A U.S State Department spokesperson said Washington was not “partnering” with the Taliban and has “made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists.”
A Turkish government spokesperson didn’t return a request for comment.
Qani said the Taliban had a “simple chat” about the potential network with Huawei in August, but no contracts or firm plans had been reached.
Bloomberg News reported in August that Huawei had reached “verbal agreement” with the Taliban about 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 carry out relevant practical cooperation.”
There are over 62,000 cameras in Kabul and other cities that are monitored from a central control room, according to the Taliban. The last major update to Kabul’s camera system occurred in 2008, according to the former government, which relied heavily on Western-led international forces for security.
When NATO-led international forces were gradually withdrawing in January 2021, then-vice president Amrullah Saleh said his government would roll out a huge upgrade of Kabul’s camera surveillance system. He told reporters the $100 million plan was backed by the NATO coalition.
“The arrangement we had planned in early 2021 was different,” Saleh told Reuters in September, adding that the “infrastructure” for the 2021 plan had been destroyed.
It was not clear if the plan Saleh referenced was similar to the ones that the Taliban say they have obtained, nor if the administration would modify them.
Jonathan Schroden, an expert on Afghanistan with the Center for Naval Analyses, said 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.”
The Taliban already closely monitor urban centres with security force vehicles and regular checkpoints.
Rights advocates and opponents of the regime are concerned enhanced surveillance might target civil society members and protesters.
Though the Taliban rarely confirm arrests, the Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 64 journalists have been detained since the takeover. Protests against restrictions on women in Kabul have been broken up forcefully by security forces, according to protesters, videos and Reuters witnesses.
Implementing a mass surveillance system “under the guise of ‘national security’ sets a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights,” said Matt Mahmoudi from Amnesty International.
The Taliban strongly denies that an upgraded surveillance system would breach the rights of Afghans. Qani said the system was comparable with what other major cities utilize and that it would be operated in line with Islamic Sharia law, which prevents recording in private spaces.
The plan faces practical challenges, security analysts say.
Intermittent daily power cuts in Afghanistan mean cameras connected to the central grid are unlikely to provide consistent feeds. Only 40% of Afghans have access to electricity, according to the state-owned power provider.
The Taliban also have to find funding after a massive economic contraction and the withdrawal of much aid following their takeover.
The administration said in 2022 that it has an annual budget of over $2 billion, of which defence spending is the largest component, according to the Taliban army chief.
The discussion with Huawei occurred several months after China met with Pakistan and the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, after which the parties stressed cooperation on counter-terrorism. Tackling militancy is also a key aspect of the 2020 troop-withdrawal deal the United States struck with the Taliban.
China has publicly declared its concern over the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an armed separatist organisation in its western Xinjiang region. Security officials and U.N. reports say ETIM likely has a small number of fighters in Afghanistan. ETIM couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Islamic State has also threatened foreigners in Afghanistan. Its fighters attacked a hotel popular with Chinese businesspeople last year, which left several Chinese citizens wounded. A Russian diplomat was also killed in one of its attacks.
The Taliban denies that militancy threatens their rule and say 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 raids in Afghanistan have removed at least eight key (Islamic State in Afghanistan) leaders, some responsible for external plotting,” said U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West at a Sept. 12 public seminar.
A July U.N. monitoring report said there were up to 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their family members in Afghanistan. Analysts say urban surveillance will not fully address their presence.
The Afghan “home base” locations of Islamic State fighters are in the eastern mountainous areas, said Schroden. “So while cameras in the cities may help prevent attacks ... they’re unlikely to contribute much to their ultimate defeat.”