Thread by @Observers

[Thread] The #Taliban have begun conducting house-to-house searches to round up activists and journalists in cities around #Afghanistan. 1/

observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacifi…

We spoke to five people, who are currently in hiding, about how the #Taliban is searching for the people on its blacklist.

In #Kabul, there are checkpoints set up around the city. But in provincial cities around the country, the Taliban uses more direct methods. 2/

A human rights activist in western #Afghanistan told us the #Taliban are going to mosques for information.

"When the Taliban entered our city, I hid out in a friend’s house because I knew they’d come for us sooner or later..." 3/

"A day or two after I moved, some of my neighbours whom I kept contact with told me #Taliban fighters were going to the neighbourhood mosque and asking people if they are aware of activists, journalists or anyone else that has worked with foreigners." 4/

Another person told us a #Taliban imam made this announcement in his city's mosque, before asking people to cooperate with them:

"We have lists of people who were collaborating with foreigners. They are corrupt." 5/

In other cities, the #Taliban is asking police officers for information.

"They are using the Afghan police’s resources and records to get details about activists and #journalists – where they live, where they used to work and who they worked with." 6/

And in some cities, the #Taliban is trying to keep up friendly appearances... but #journalists are not convinced.

"A few days ago, the Taliban local commander summoned all the journalists and activists in our region to a meeting with him..." 7/

"He told us that we could continue working, as long as we do it within the limits of Islamic Sharia law and Taliban surveillance. But in the middle of our meeting, some armed men came into the room and showed us their weapons." 8/

Our last Observer tells us that these quiet roundups and intimidation tactics are nothing new. This isn't #Taliban 2.0:

"The Taliban have not changed. We don’t have a 'moderate Taliban.' They are repeating exactly what they did in our region in 1996." 9/

Read the full article, with accounts from five journalists and activists across #Afghanistan, on our site. 10/ observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacifi…