Afghanistan: Taliban plans for suicide brigade reveal changing nature of warfare in 21st century

By Lily Hamourtziadou, Senior Lecturer in Security Studies, Birmingham City University

The Taliban recently announced it will establish a battalion of suicide attackers as part of the national army of Afghanistan. These “martyrdom brigades” will be “under the control of the ministry of defence and will be used for special operations,” according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. This was condemned as “horrific and appalling” by Shaharzad Akbar, the chairwoman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Suicide missions…

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