The Pak Banker

Taliban to reward suicide bombers' kins

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The Taliban have promised plots of land to the family members of suicide bombers who targeted US and Afghan forces, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry tweeted Tuesday.

The tweet, posted in English, echoed an announceme­nt made the previous day by acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who offered clothes and roughly $112 to dozens of male family members of "martyred" bombers who died for Islamic "jihad and sacrifices." The spokesman, Saeed Khosty, also said Haqqani considered the dead bombers "heroes of Islam and the country."

"Now you and I must refrain from betraying the aspiration­s of our martyrs," Haqqani reportedly said.

The acting interior minister's comments suggest extreme aggression could see a resurgence in the now Taliban-ruled country - a move at odds with previous assurances following the fall of Kabul in August. The U.S. and its Western allies have warned the Taliban that they will not recognize its government as a legitimate legislativ­e body should the Taliban allow terrorism and extremism to flourish.

The Taliban leaders' meeting at a Kabul hotel Monday was the latest in a series of steps taken by the group to seemingly push Afghanista­n back to a radicaliza­tion not seen since 2001. The UNO has predicted the entire country could soon be in a dire economic situation and will require additional humanitari­an support.

The US has frozen billions of dollars in Afghan assets following the Taliban takeover in accordance with U.S. sanction policies. Internatio­nal monetary organizati­ons have additional­ly paused as much as 75% of all fiscal disburseme­nts the previous Afghan government relied on, the Associated Press reported. The U.S. has evacuated upward of 124,000 Americans, Afghan allies and at-risk Afghans since the fall of Kabul.

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