Islamuddin never imagined joining the Taliban to become a suicide bomber but things changed for the teenage Afghan farmer when he said his best friend was shot dead by US troops in a night raid.
In a rare insight into the mind of an Afghan suicide bomber, Islamuddin told Reuters the shooting 18 months ago was a turning point in his decision to join the Taliban – and ultimately, to train as a suicide bomber.
“I was really upset and it had a bad impact on me. I became alone. My work was not enjoyable anymore. The whole world became boring for me,” he said. Four months later, Islamuddin, 17, was arrested for planning to blow himself up in an attack on a US convoy in Kunduz province. He is now serving a four and a half year sentence in a juvenile detention centre. Islamuddin’s mother, who asked Reuters not to release her name, said her son changed after his best friend, who was also his nephew, died – and that the insurgents took advantage of his grief to recruit him.
“Whenever (Islamuddin) comes into my mind I am upset,” she said. “He was young and was deceived by the Taliban.”
Suicide bombings – one of the main methods the Taliban use to target coalition and Afghan forces – are a relatively recent tactic. The first suicide bombing by an Afghan was in 2004. The majority of victims have been Afghan civilians. Many Afghans are horrified by the bombings and they have been declared un-Islamic in fatwas by senior clerics.
But numbers of the attacks have been steadily rising. In the past six months, Afghan police have arrested at least 20 would-be bombers. Many get training abroad, or are foreigners, according to the Interior Ministry.
Afghan suicide bombers can be motivated by a lack of jobs, education, financial and religious rewards, opposition to foreign troops, as well as revenge for the death of relatives or friends, according to academic and UN reports. Islamuddin’s nephew’ also 17, was killed in a night raid, long one of the most hated foreign military tactics in Afghanistan, that critics say often claim innocent victims but the military say are an important, and precise, tool.
A spokesman for NATO did not confirm the raid.
