The so-called Al-Badr foundation, affiliated with the Taliban, began construction on Monday of a memorial in the Laknau area of Khost province, a site where, according to Taliban officials, a suicide attack targeting U.S. forces took place 16 years ago.
Taliban officials say the purpose of constructing the memorial is to preserve what they describe as the site’s “historical significance” and to commemorate the “sacrifice” of the attacker for future generations.
Mawlawi Mohammad Saber Saberi, the Taliban’s Director of Information and Culture in Khost, said at the inauguration ceremony that Rahmanullah Rahmani, whom the Taliban identify as the perpetrator of the suicide attack, targeted U.S. forces in the area 16 years ago.
Saberi also claimed that Taliban suicide attacks and armed operations ultimately led to the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s Department of Information and Culture in Khost said the cost of constructing the memorial would be covered by the “Al-Badr Charitable Foundation.”
At the same ceremony, an official from the Taliban’s “Jihadi Heritage” department said plans were underway to construct similar memorials in other parts of Afghanistan. According to the official, memorials are to be erected at the sites of attacks carried out by certain suicide attackers or alongside their graves.
The Taliban have previously built a similar memorial at the site of an attack attributed to an individual named Hayatullah Masid. The Taliban have described him as the group’s first suicide attacker.
Writer:Roya Stanikzai
