Taliban announces spring offensive
The Taliban have announced the start of their spring offensive,
pledging to launch large-scale attacks against government strongholds
backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s
western-backed government from power.
The announcement of the formal start of ‘Operation Omari,’ named
after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, comes just days
after the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, visited Kabul and
reaffirmed US support for the national unity government led by
Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani.
“Jihad against the aggressive and usurping infidel army is a holy
obligation upon our necks and our only recourse for re-establishing an
Islamic system and regaining our independence,” the Taliban said in a
statement.
The insurgency has gained in strength since the withdrawal of
international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are
stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by
US-backed forces in 2001.
As well as suicide and tactical attacks, the operation would include
assassinations of enemy commanders in urban centres, the Taliban
statement said.
“The present operation will also employ all means at our disposal to
bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the
foreign invaders and their internal armed militias,” it said.
In line with recent statements, it also said it would establish good
governance in areas it controlled as well as avoiding civilian
casualties and damage to infrastructure.
How far the announcement will lead to an immediate escalation in
fighting, which caused 11,000 civilian casualties last year, remains
unclear. However, NATO and Afghan officials have said they expect very
tough combat in 2016.
Heavy fighting has continued for months across Afghanistan, from
Kunduz, the northern city that fell briefly to the insurgents last year,
to Helmand Province bordering Pakistan in the south.
In Helmand, where thousands of British and American troops were
killed or injured fighting the Taliban, government forces have pulled
back from many areas and are struggling to hold on to centres close to
the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Understrength Afghan Security Forces, struggling with heavy
casualties and high desertion rates and short of air power, transport
and logistical support, have struggled in their first year fighting
largely alone.
According to NATO commanders, the Taliban exert control over only 6%
of Afghanistan but up to a third of the country is at risk from the
insurgents, and government forces control no more than 70% of the
country’s territory.
US General John Nicholson, who took over as commander of
international troops in Afghanistan last month, is conducting a
strategic review, including plans to cut US troops in Afghanistan from
9,800 to 5,500 by the end of the year.Unless the plan is changed, the
reduction would mean the end of most of NATO’s training and assistance
operation, leaving the remaining US troops focusing on counterterrorism
operations against radical groups like Islamic State.
- Guardian.UK
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