Taliban declares start of new Afghan offensive

The Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan, promising "painful strikes" to force all enemy soldiers to leave, according to a Web message seen by a U.S.-based monitoring service on Thursday.

NATO-led forces have conducted wide-ranging offensives in southern Afghanistan to disrupt the insurgents ahead of spring, which each year heralds a surge in violence as the snows melt and fighters emerge from their mountain hideouts.

The Web message entitled "Taliban declares beginning of spring offensive in Afghanistan" was from Mullah Bradar Akhund, who styles himself deputy emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, according to a translation by the SITE Institute terrorism monitoring service seen in London.

"The winter season is about to end, and here spring looms on the horizon, and in order for the continuity of doing the holy jihad, with the coming spring season, the Islamic Emirate begins a new series of operations under the name 'Admonition'," it said.

"Our aim in these operations is to give the enemy an admonishing lesson through conclusive and painful strikes that he does not anticipate, until he knows and is compelled to end the occupation of Afghanistan and withdraw until the last soldier leaves."

The insurgents have already vowed to intensify attacks on Afghan and foreign troops countrywide, launch a wave of suicide bombings and attack supply lines from Pakistan this year in their campaign to overthrow the pro-Western government.

The Web statement said the Taliban would employ "new types of operations" across the country, according to the SITE Institute.

Last year saw a record level of violence in Afghanistan that killed nearly 6,000 people, about a third of them civilians. More than 200 foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2007.