The Taliban says it's rewarding the families of suicide bombers who attacked US and Afghan troops with money, clothes, and land

• The Taliban is rewarding the families of those who attacked US troops from 2001 to 2021.
• A Taliban official called the fighters "martyrs."

The Taliban has said it is rewarding the families of suicide bombers who attacked US and Afghan troops during 20-year US presence, with sums of cash, clothing, and a plot of land.

At a Monday gathering at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, the Taliban's acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, called fighters who died in the suicide bombings "martyrs" and "heroes of Islam and the country," according to a tweet from Interior Ministry spokesman Saeed Khosty.

Khosty also tweeted photos of Haqqani, whose face was blurred out, speaking to the relatives in a packed conference room.

Haqqani also distributed 10,000 afghanis ($112) per family, gave them clothes, and promised them a plot of land each, Kohsty said.

-Qari Saeed Khosty (@SaeedKhosty) October 19, 2021

The gesture is a contrast from the group's efforts to gain global support as the country's new rulers.

Earlier this month, the Taliban held talks with President Joe Biden's administration for the first time since the US withdrawal in August. The group cannot afford to alienate the US, which has frozen billions of dollars in Afghan assets.

It is unclear how many US and Afghan soldiers died from suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the last 20 years.

However, a recent Associated Press report found that 2,448 American service members and 3,846 US contractors in total were killed in Afghanistan between 2001 and April this year.

Following the Taliban's victory in August, Islamic State militants have carried out a series of suicide bombings, including one attack at the airport in Kabul at the height of the evacuation efforts that killed more than 100 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members.