.Afghanistan: Taliban announces new spring offensive
Kabul, 29 April (AKI) - The Taliban has announced it will launch a major new military offensive against foreign forces in Afghanistan from Thursday. The deputy of the Afghan Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Omar said on Wednesday the militant group would begin a new "strong and robust" operation.
More than 25,000 extra US and NATO forces are due to arrive in the country this year in a bid to counter its increasingly ferocious Taliban-led insurgency.
"As the US and NATO want to send more troops to Afghanistan, the Afghans too sense the need for a strong and robust operation to counter the new forces," Mullah Brodar Akhund, the Taliban's second-in-command, said in a statement.
"The target of the operation will be military bases of invaders, diplomatic centres, military convoys, officials of the puppet government and members of the parliament," he said in a statement.
Brodar said the operation, called 'Nasrat' (Assistance), would include an increased number of suicide attacks, ambushes and offensive assaults.
His statement also called on the Afghan government, employees and security forces to stop working with the "puppet government."
Haulage firms that transport military supplies for NATO troops and construction companies that build military bases in Afghanistan should halt their activities or face reprisals, the statement warned.
It came the same day that a suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of the NATO-led ISAF's soldiers in northern Kunduz province, wounding five soldiers, according to an official cited by Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
Also on Wednesday, Afghan forces backed by the US-led coalition troops killed an estimated 10 insurgents and detained two suspects in a battle that broke out during a patrol in southeastern Logar province, Pajahwok reported.
US president Barack Obama announced earlier this year that he would send 17,000 combat troops and 4,000 military trainers to Afghanistan this year as the administration changed its focus from the war in Iraq to the one in Afghanistan.
Other NATO countries have also pledged to send around 5,000 soldiers and military advisors to Afghanistan in the coming months to help provide security for the upcoming presidential elections in August.
Britain announced on Wednesday it would send 700 extra troops to boost security in Afghanistan during the presidential elections. The polls are being seen as a key test of democracy in the war-torn country.
Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd also said the government would send an extra 450 troops to Afghanistan, increasing its contingent there to 1,550.
The new Australian troops will be mainly tasked with training the Afghan army in the southern province of Uruzgan. They include a temporary eight-month deployment of 120 soldiers for the period around the August elections, Rudd said.
Taliban militants have steadily gained strength in Afghanistan since 2005 and have extended their control over large areas of the country.
Nearly 300 foreign troops were killed by insurgents in 2008 in what was the deadliest year of fighting for them since US-led forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001.
More than 70,000 international troops from 42 nations are currently deployed in Afghanistan. Over 160,000 newly trained members of the Afghan army and police are also fighting the Taliban.
AKI
More than 25,000 extra US and NATO forces are due to arrive in the country this year in a bid to counter its increasingly ferocious Taliban-led insurgency.
"As the US and NATO want to send more troops to Afghanistan, the Afghans too sense the need for a strong and robust operation to counter the new forces," Mullah Brodar Akhund, the Taliban's second-in-command, said in a statement.
"The target of the operation will be military bases of invaders, diplomatic centres, military convoys, officials of the puppet government and members of the parliament," he said in a statement.
Brodar said the operation, called 'Nasrat' (Assistance), would include an increased number of suicide attacks, ambushes and offensive assaults.
His statement also called on the Afghan government, employees and security forces to stop working with the "puppet government."
Haulage firms that transport military supplies for NATO troops and construction companies that build military bases in Afghanistan should halt their activities or face reprisals, the statement warned.
It came the same day that a suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of the NATO-led ISAF's soldiers in northern Kunduz province, wounding five soldiers, according to an official cited by Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
Also on Wednesday, Afghan forces backed by the US-led coalition troops killed an estimated 10 insurgents and detained two suspects in a battle that broke out during a patrol in southeastern Logar province, Pajahwok reported.
US president Barack Obama announced earlier this year that he would send 17,000 combat troops and 4,000 military trainers to Afghanistan this year as the administration changed its focus from the war in Iraq to the one in Afghanistan.
Other NATO countries have also pledged to send around 5,000 soldiers and military advisors to Afghanistan in the coming months to help provide security for the upcoming presidential elections in August.
Britain announced on Wednesday it would send 700 extra troops to boost security in Afghanistan during the presidential elections. The polls are being seen as a key test of democracy in the war-torn country.
Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd also said the government would send an extra 450 troops to Afghanistan, increasing its contingent there to 1,550.
The new Australian troops will be mainly tasked with training the Afghan army in the southern province of Uruzgan. They include a temporary eight-month deployment of 120 soldiers for the period around the August elections, Rudd said.
Taliban militants have steadily gained strength in Afghanistan since 2005 and have extended their control over large areas of the country.
Nearly 300 foreign troops were killed by insurgents in 2008 in what was the deadliest year of fighting for them since US-led forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001.
More than 70,000 international troops from 42 nations are currently deployed in Afghanistan. Over 160,000 newly trained members of the Afghan army and police are also fighting the Taliban.
AKI
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