The Afghan Taliban announced on Saturday the start of their spring operations against foreign troops and government officials.
A statement from the Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the insurgents call their movement, on Saturday declared their offensive would start May 1.
The operation called Badar will target the troops of the United States and its foreign and Afghan allies, said the statement. The focus would be on military centres, airbases and convoys.
More than 140,000 foreign troops led by NATO are struggling against an insurgency which has lasted since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
A NATO official on Saturday said they anticipate the militants to “increase use of assassinations, spectacular attacks, and claims of infiltration.” Militants were planning to attempt a surge of violence in the coming days to gain a propaganda victory but it will have no lasting impact due to gains Afghan and coalition forces have made through the winter, said General Josef Blotz, spokesman for NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
General Blotz claimed the Taliban suffered increasing setbacks over the past several months, losing weapons caches, being pushed out of historic sanctuaries, suffering the loss of thousands of fighters and hundreds of leaders. The Taliban were also under pressure from more than 100,000 additional Afghan and coalition forces in the field.
“We have increased our security posture because of a credible threat of coordinated insurgent attacks,” said the German general.
Violence
“ISAF will support Afghan government efforts to protect citizens from insurgent violence, in addition to protecting our own forces.” The Taliban in their Saturday statement also said they will attack high-ranking Afghan government officials, both military and civilian, members of the cabinet, parliamentarians, senior employees of foreign and local companies, and contractors.
They said members of High Peace Council would also be targeted because it “prolongs the American occupation.”
