KABUL – The Taliban on Friday announced their annual spring offensive,which comes as the Afghan and US politicians try to negotiate for a peacesettlement with the militant group.
Operation Fath — which means “victory” in Arabic — will be conducted acrossAfghanistan with the aim of “eradicating occupation” and “cleansing ourMuslim homeland from invasion and corruption”, Taliban said in a statement.
The annual spring offensive traditionally marks the start of the so-calledfighting season, though the announcement is largely symbolic as in recentwinters the Taliban has continued fighting Afghan and US forces.
“Our Jihadi obligation has not yet ended,” the Taliban said.
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The Ministry of Defense spokesman Qais Mangal said the Taliban’s springoffensive is “mere propaganda”.
This comes after the Afghan government on announced on April 2 thatPresident Ashraf Ghani has approved the security plan for the current solaryear as conflicts are intensifying between security forces and Taliban indifferent parts of the country
