An intrusive sweep that has spanned several provinces risks alienating Afghans and fueling the insurgency the new government is trying to stop.​

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Christina Goldbaum & Najim Rahim @ NYTimes.com, March 2

KABUL, Afghanistan — Trucks with heavy machine guns stopped at street corners, unloading men in camouflage carrying radios and assault rifles. Going door to door, they barged into homes, tossed open drawers and pored through cellphones — looking for any connection to an armed insurgency.

These soldiers carrying out a cordon and search operation in Afghanistan’s capital were not American troops, who for nearly 20 years conducted similar operations that drove many Afghans into the arms of the Taliban.

They were the Taliban.

The sweep, which began on Friday, has spanned several provinces and remains underway, is the largest operation of its kind since the Taliban seized power in August and the first carried out in daylight.

The searches stoked alarm among many Afghans, some of whom reported mistreatment and property damage by Taliban forces, and offered the latest evidence that the new Taliban, like the old ones, were relying on police-state tactics to assert their authority and stamp out dissent [....]