 KABUL, Afghanistan, (AP) - The Taliban says it will use new techniques and draw on years of fighting experience to again increase attacks in Afghanistan this spring. A statement attributed to Taliban senior commander Mullah Bradar also warns Afghans working with the government to quit their jobs or risk being targeted.
| This time it's for real, yewbetcha. |
Bradar said the Taliban is aiming to collapse the government of President Hamid Karzai. He said the militants would continue their attacks until the government is ousted and U.S. and NATO forces withdraw.
U.S. and NATO military officials dismiss the idea of a Taliban spring offensive and say the only offensive that will take place this year in Afghanistan is one by Western and Afghan troops. "It's the same old story, it's the same old nonsense," Mark Laity, the NATO spokesman in Kabul, said Wednesday. "What are they saying they will do? More destruction, more unhappiness, more misery. What is there that will present any hope for the Afghan people?"
| They see the Germans refusing to support NATO operations in any serious way, they see the US forces overdeployed and they figure that they can do a Tet & get us to withdraw. Let's hope they're wrong. |
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