The Taliban late last year reportedly warned the United States that it will deploy 2,000 suicide bombers to Washington, D.C., if the Biden administration follows through with a plan to post the same number of soldiers at the U.S. embassy facility in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Taliban telegraphed the warning to U.S. leaders during ongoing talks in Doha, Qatar, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a watchdog group that tracks jihadi communications and media reports. The Taliban objects to any U.S. presence in Afghanistan since the Biden administration last year removed all Americans in a bungled withdrawal that left several service members dead. If the United States does send its military back into the country, the Taliban says it will respond by sending a brigade of suicide bombers to the Afghan embassy in Washington.
The Taliban also intends to enlist suicide bombers as part of a new branch of special forces in the Afghan National Army.
"Our mujahideen in the Ishtishhadi Kandaks [martyrdom-seeking battalions] will be part of the army and [they] will be Special Forces and organized under the defense ministry," Zabihullah Mujahid, a veteran terrorist and leader in the Taliban government, said in a recent interview, according to MEMRI. "The Special Forces will be established in a specific number and used for special operations."
The comments are yet another sign that the Taliban does not intend on moderating its behavior since it retook power in Afghanistan. The Taliban government is not internationally recognized, though the United States is engaging with the group through diplomatic channels.