"Ahmad", 13, an Afghan teenager who was trained by the Taliban for a suicide attack, has surrendered to the Afghan security forces in Kunduz province, the Ministry of Interior said on Thursday.
The teenager claimed that he spent five years in a Taliban camp and pursued military education and tactics for suicide attacks.
"Ahmad" (whose name has been changed in this report for security reasons) was due to detonate explosives strapped to his body in a marriage gathering two days ago, but he changed his mind and surrendered to the Afghan security forces.
The teenager also said that five years back the Taliban attacked his home in Kunduz, killed his parents before his eyes, and took him along with his two brothers and two sisters. His father had served in the ranks of the Afghan Special Forces.
“They (the Taliban) sent my two brothers to Kabul to conduct suicide attacks, and I was deployed to Kunduz. They said that I should explode myself in an area where there are large numbers of people or attack any wedding ceremony. I came, but I was frightened,” said the would-be suicide attacker.
"Ahmad" claimed that one of his brothers was dispatched to conduct a suicide attack in Kabul two years ago, and the other brother was sent for the same purpose by the Taliban a month ago.
He said that he does not know about the fate of his sisters, who were aged 10 and 8 when they were abducted five years back.
“There were ten to 15 people in areas where we were trained. My brothers conducted suicide attacks--they were 14 and 16 years old,” said the young man.
“This is one of the examples of how the Taliban has resorted to such brutal acts over the past decade-and-a-half. they could have devastated tens of youngsters and youths,” said Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.
Afghan security officials say that most of the teenagers and youths who commit suicide attacks are being trained in Taliban camps.
The Taliban has not made any comment on the report.