The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive on Tuesday, pledging to launch large-scale offensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power. The announcement of the start of “Operation Omari”, named after Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, came just days after John Kerry visited Kabul and reaffirmed U.S. support for President Ashraf Ghani’s government. “Jihad against the aggressive and usurping infidel army is a holy obligation upon our necks and our only recourse for re-establishing an Islamic system and regaining our independence,” the Taliban said in a statement. — Reuters
