The Taliban's Deputy Interior Minister Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali told reporters Sunday that "martyrdom brigades," or suicide bomber units, are a part of the Taliban's security forces and a source of "pride."
At a press conference for the Ministry of Interior's annual report, the Taliban official reportedly said that "the martyrdom brigades are an integral part of our Jihad and our source of pride, their small or large number is confidential, which we do not see it necessary to explain."
According to Khaama Press, Afghan military and security forces have never before included suicide bomber units.
Afghanistan has been under Taliban rule since the American-backed government collapsed in August, 2021, and U.S. forces pulled out of the country. A Sunni terrorist organization, the regime has established an authoritarian state it refers to as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," according to Breitbart News.
The Taliban began its rule last year by pledging that its return to power would be more tolerant than its previous Afghanistan regime in the 1990s. Little more than a week into the new administration, however, it ordered women not to leave their homes except in cases of emergency.
The Interior Ministry praised the suicide bomber battalions on the same day the Taliban Defense Ministry accused Pakistan of opening its airspace to American drones. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan in July. The Taliban have claimed they have not yet found Zawahiri's body.
"Based on our information, these [drones] enter Afghanistan through Pakistan and use Pakistan's airspace," Defense Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said Sunday, according to Tolo News. "We ask Pakistan not to use its airspace against us."
Underlining the warning, the Taliban published a number of propaganda videos over the weekend, showcasing the training of its fighters, according to Breitbart.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid initially announced the creation of a suicide bomber unit in January, describing the Taliban military as "inclusive" because it would supposedly include women.
Khaama Press reported at the time that the battalion will be used during special operations.
Mujahid told reporters then that the Taliban armed forces consisted of 100,000 soldiers. Upon arriving in Kabul, the Taliban seized the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces' military equipment, which largely consisted of American weaponry.
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