The Taliban has announced the launch of a spring offensive against foreign troops in Afghanistan as well as Afghan cops and government officials.| I believe our guys call that "targets". No doubt at least some of the Afghan cops and troops do, too. Happy hunting, guys! |
| We're inside that decision loop, too? Wow. |
| If it's named after the Battle of Badr, which took place in the second year of the Muslim calendar, that would suggest the Taliban are taking this seriously, indeed. |
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai's
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a
Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
government, members of the cabinet and politicians, as well as the heads of foreign and local companies working for the NATO-led coalition," the Taliban said in a statement.
The statement warned Afghan citizens to stay away from public locations that could be targeted as part of Badar, "so that they will not become harmed during attacks of Mujahideen against the enemy".
"Operations will focus on attacks against military centres, places of gatherings, airbases, ammunition and logistical military convoys of the foreign invaders in all parts of the country," the statement said.
Senior US officers and western diplomats said they recently obtained credible intelligence showing that the Taliban - with the support of the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network - plans to conduct a series of high-profile attacks such as suicide kabooms, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency reported.
A Pentagon report, released on Friday, painted a more positive picture of the situation on the ground saying that the US-led coalition has made "tangible progress".
Last week eight US soldiers and a contractorwere killed after an Afghan army officer opened fired at the air force headquarters in Kabul airport.
The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack, though authorities could not confirm its involvement.
A front man for the group told Al Jizz that one of its members had been serving in the army for a long time with the aim of killing foreign forces and finally got the chance.
However,
The didactic
However...
NATO said Taliban's announcement of their spring military offensive is a sign of the bully boys' desperation over recent setbacks.
A NATO official in Brussels also said Taliban will try to gain a propaganda victory through coordinated attacks and that the US-led international forces already has tightened security.