Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior and leader of the Haqqani network has recently ordered the construction of a memorial monument for a suicide bomber. Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Kabul Police Command, announced this decision on his page on X (formerly Twitter). According to his post, this memorial will be built in the Garda Serai district of Paktia province. The individual in whose name the memorial is to be built was named Hayatullah. The monument will be placed exactly where Hayatullah carried out a suicide attack on a convoy of American soldiers. The Taliban has laid the foundation stone for this monument, and construction is expected to be completed soon. Zadran claims that this act is being done on the orders of the Taliban’s Interior Minister to honor the so-called sacrifice of suicide bombers against American forces. Haqqani’s decision to build a memorial for a suicide bomber comes shortly after he was described by the “New York Times” as a pragmatic figure and the “sole voice of dissent” within the Taliban.
Unlike Afghanistan under Taliban rule, memorials are constructed in other parts of the world for individuals who have contributed to politics, culture, literature, and sports, or for those who have risked their lives defending human rights and humanitarian values, raising their voices against oppression and injustice. Such individuals transcend borders, are commemorated globally, and are remembered positively even after their deaths. Now, the Taliban are erecting a monument for a suicide bomber who had no purpose other than killing people and destroying lives. For Afghan citizens, few words carry the terror of “suicide bomber,” as tens of thousands have died in such attacks over the past two decades. When other countries construct monuments for renowned musicians and poets, while the Taliban honors a suicide bomber, the depth of the ongoing tragedy in Afghanistan becomes painfully clear. This action comes amid the Taliban’s consistent destruction or desecration of statues and monuments belonging to Afghanistan’s ethnic leaders, daily deepening ethnic divides. The efforts by certain institutions and media outlets to label a staunch supporter of suicide bombers as “pragmatic” and to encourage the West to engage with him is astonishing. This mischaracterization is rooted in either a lack of understanding of Haqqani’s true nature or, if they are aware, a willingness to sacrifice on-the-ground realities for political considerations.
Haqqani’s purpose in building this monument is to keep the culture of suicide bombing alive in Afghanistan. The Taliban, particularly the Haqqani faction, cannot tolerate the idea of letting this banner of suicide attacks fall. Even if they were recognized officially, they would still keep the flag of suicide bombing raised, as they view this tactic as the easiest way to intimidate or defeat their enemies. Over the past twenty years, suicide bombings have proven effective for the Taliban. Building such memorials may inspire dozens or even hundreds more young men and boys from religious schools to undertake suicide missions, believing that they will attain eternal peace and, in this world, receive honor for their actions, becoming role models with memorials named after them. This is not Haqqani’s first such act; he has, on multiple occasions, gathered families and relatives of suicide bombers in luxurious hotels, distributing large sums of money to them in front of Taliban-controlled media. Other Taliban officials have also traveled from province to province, offering significant payments to the families of suicide bombers, ensuring that they remain committed to the path of their deceased relatives, striving to maintain this “sordid tradition”—a desire close to the Taliban’s heart.
The emphasis on building jihadist schools is no accident; it is a deliberate ideological effort to strengthen the culture of suicide attacks among the Afghan population, especially young men and teenagers. Over time, the Taliban has only excelled in one area: building religious schools. Both supporters and opponents of the Taliban agree that they have established hundreds, perhaps thousands, of jihadist schools across various regions of the country, funded by millions of dollars. These schools produce nothing but radicalized youth, leading to outcomes such as suicide attacks, anti-Shia sentiment, misogyny, and opposition to modern civilization. Preparing someone for a suicide mission is not an overnight task but the result of years of indoctrination and brainwashing, which the Taliban’s jihadist schools are adept at handling.
Haqqani’s familiarity with suicide bombers once again proves that dividing the Taliban into “hardliners” and “moderates” is merely an attempt to mislead the public. For Haqqani to be a moderate and oppose Hibatullah, he would have to abandon the use of suicide bombers; however, rather than doing so, he has intensified his efforts to support and promote them. Support for human rights, women’s rights, and other civil liberties ranks low on his list, as he has yet to express any disagreement with his leader. According to reports, even if certain countries’ use of Haqqani as a balancing force against Hibatullah succeeds, this would still require him to embrace reforms demanded by the Afghan people and the international community, not support suicide bombers and suicide attacks.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here:
