Taliban announces spring offensive

The Taliban has announced their spring offensive which happens annually even though the peace talks with the US are underway. The announcement has come even though the meeting with representatives of the Afghan government is slated for an end of the month. Taliban has announced the launch of operation Fath which in Arabic stands for “victory” will be held all across Afghanistan. The primary aim of the operation is to eradicate occupation and also wipe out the homeland from invasion and corruption.

The offensive marks the beginning of the fighting season every year although the announcement is seen largely as a symbolic statement as the fighting with both the US and Afghan forces has continued through the winters.

Even the Afghanistan government declared its own spring offensive in March under the name of Operation Khalid. It was this announcement which was used by the Taliban as the pretext for the offensive. The Taliban said, “the enemy still seeks to attain its malicious objectives through the use of force”. Taliban also called the Afghan soldiers, police and other fighters for joining them in the offensive.

The spokesman for the Afghan Defence Ministry said that the Taliban’s offensive is mere propaganda. He said, “the Taliban will not reach their vicious goals and their operations will be defeated like previous years”. The group has control over half the country and the security forces of Afghan have taken a huge number of casualties. It was in 2018 when heavy bloodshed was seen in Kabul and ever since there has been a lull in the violence.

In a recent Taliban attack earlier in the week, three US Marines were killed at Bagram air base of the city. The authorities are on high alert ever since. The US has put in many efforts to put an end to decades-old war but the Taliban have refused to meet the Afghan government calling it a puppet government in the hands of the West. The US still has around 14000 troops in Afghanistan even after 18 years after the US-led forces entered the country to defeat the Taliban. In 2018 alone, a record number of 10,993 civilians had been either killed or wounded as per the latest UN figures.