The Taliban has said it is rewarding the families of suicide bombers who attacked US and Afghan troops during 20-year US presence, with sums of cash, clothing, and a plot of land.
At a Monday gathering at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, the Taliban’s acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, called fighters who died in the suicide bombings “martyrs” and “heroes of Islam and the country,” according to a tweet from Interior Ministry spokesman Saeed Khosty.
The event comes as the Taliban attempt to open diplomatic channels with an international community largely reluctant to formally recognize their rule in Afghanistan. High-profile Taliban meetings with foreign officials have focused on obtaining aid to impoverished Afghans as the UN predicts virtually the entire population will slide into poverty because of a severe economic crisis.
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The promise of rewards for suicide bombings signals conflicting approaches within the Taliban leadership. They are trying to position themselves as responsible rulers, who promise security for all and have condemned suicide attacks by their rivals, the militant Islamic State group. On the other hand, they praise such tactics when it comes to their followers.
Haqqani Network — which is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani — had conducted massive numbers of suicide attacks in the past several years in Afghanistan.
Kabul had witnessed the most number of suicide attacks in the country by the Taliban. Those attacks inflicted casualties to thousands of civilians alongside the foreign and Afghan men in service, reported Khaama Press
(With inputs from agencies)
