Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Chief of Staff, has stated in an interview with TOLOnews TV, that the suicide bombers’ battalions have been dissolved and its forces have been transferred to the special forces command of the Taliban army.
According to him, these battalions were initially trained for the "occupation" period and are now considered unnecessary.
Fitrat clarified that with the withdrawal of international forces and the fall of the previous government, such formations no longer exist within the Taliban's army, stating, "These battalions have been dissolved and practically do not exist."
However, he warned that if Afghanistan faces another aggression and invasion, the entire forces of the group would wage suicide attacks against the invaders.
The Taliban official didn't share details about how many suicide bombers or battalions were dissolved.
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they announced a new unit called "Lashkar Mansoori Suicide Bombers Battalions" to protect Afghanistan's borders in the northeastern provinces.
In December 2022, they honoured their suicide attackers by putting up a list of names on the wall of the "Hamza Suicide Bombers Battalion" in Kabul.
A reliable source told Afghanistan International that Mullah Tajmir Jawad, the Deputy Director of Taliban Intelligence, was responsible for establishing the "Hamza Suicide Bombers Battalion”.
During the Taliban's war with the security forces of the previous government and foreign troops, the group carried out extensive suicide attacks on civilian and military targets.
Human rights organisations have reported that suicide attacks were among the deadliest tactics employed during the Afghan war, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of civilian lives.
In a speech at a gathering in Kandahar in February 2022, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's Minister of Interior, announced that 1,050 members from the Haqqani network had committed suicide attacks in the past decade and a half.
