A group of eight Taliban suicide bombers have died after their explosive devices prematurely went off in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan. They had been intending to reach heavily populated areas and inflict mass casualties in a series of coordinated attacks.

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The cell, the Ministry of Interior claims, is thought to have belonged to Mullah Wali, a local Taliban commander, and had been tasked with “organizing some terrorist attacks in Kunduz province.”

Luckily for civilians, one of the explosive vests went off inside their hideout in Nahar Kohna village, in the northern Kunduz province, before the jihadists completed their assignment. The initial blast apparently detonated the rest of the devices, annihilating the entire group of wannabe martyrs.

The attack on Kunduz by hundreds of Taliban fighters intensified after the terrorist group announced the start of their annual spring offensive earlier this month.

Last year, Taliban forces were able to briefly take control of Kunduz city, the fifth largest city in Afghanistan. It was the first urban area to fall under Taliban control since the 2001 US invasion. The Taliban attacked the city again last September.

It took two weeks of fighting and American special operations forces and air power for the Afghan army to retake the city. The fighting in the city and the wider province continues.