Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a rare statement on Tuesday saying his fighters will increase attacks on government and foreign forces in Afghanistan once the harsh Afghan winter gave way to spring. The statement, issued through a spokesman, was a riposte to U.S. Major General Eric T. Olson that Taliban attacks had "decreased dramatically" and Omar was no longer able to exercise control over the insurgents. "This is part of America's psychological war aimed at demoralising the Taliban and creating rifts amongst them," Omar said in a statement read by spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi to a Reuters correspondent in Kabul."I have support not only from Muslims in Afghanistan, but from around the world," said Omar, who once declared himself to be a "Commander of the Faithful," a title used by companions of Prophet Mohammad. Remnants of Omar's hardline Islamist militia have kept up an insurgency since being driven from power in late 2001 for giving shelter to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, following the Sept. 11 suicide airliner attacks in the United States. Hakimi also telephoned another Reuters reporter claiming the Taliban was responsible for the killing of a British man in Kabul on Monday night, but security sources in the Afghan capital doubted the veracity of the claim, saying it appeared opportunist and the Taliban had often made false claims in the past. Hakimi said Omar had told his deputy, Mullah Obaidullah to initiate an attack that would send a clear signal to the Americans that the Taliban command could order a strike whenever it chose.
Olson said he expected President Hamid Karzai to announce an offer of amnesty to Taliban rank-and-file soon and said some 30 medium-level Taliban had recently surrendered to U.S.-led forces. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members and the amnesty offer will not extend to Mullah Omar or up to 150 of his most hardened followers. Omar's statement said those who had surrendered were bandits and added that no "true Muslim will surrender to the infidels." He vowed a fresh campaign of violence once spring arrives. "You will see increase in our attacks after the end of winter."