Retribution: It’s a message for NATO, says Taliban

“Attacks are the beginning of the spring offensive we had planned for months,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah...


Tahir Khan April 16, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban said on Sunday that the coordinated attacks in Kabul and three other provinces were a message to Nato forces, whose spokesman recently claimed that there would be no repeat of Taliban’s ‘spring offensive’.

“These attacks are the beginning of the spring offensive and we had planned them for months,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Express Tribune.

He went on to add that the onslaught was a revenge for a series of incidents involving American troops in Afghanistan - including the burning of the Holy Quran at a Nato base and the massacre of 17 civilians by a US soldier - and vowed that there would be more such attacks.

A Nato spokesman German Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson had said that Afghan insurgents have so far shown no sign of planning a repeat of last year’s spring offensive against foreign elements.

“It is a message to Nato forces, whose spokesman recently said that there are no signs of Taliban’s spring offensive,” Mujahid said.

“Mujahideen attacks have now been set in motion. We now ask Nato’s leadership to open their eyes,” he added.

He told The Express Tribune the real targets of the coordinated attacks were the US, British embassies, Isaf headquarters, presidential palace and parliament, adding that no other embassy had been targeted.

“After the Mujahideen offered to take revenge, our military commanders in four provinces – Kabul, Nangarhar, Paktiya and Lugar – coordinated major attacks simultaneously. The attacks were launched in four provinces in an hour,” Mujahid said.

Former Afghan defence minister Shahnawaz Tanai said the Taliban attacks were a show of their existence and capability as a force in Afghanistan. He told The Express Tribune that the Taliban highlighted their own capabilities while exposing the weaknesses of Afghan intelligence and security operatives.

Afghan opposition groups called upon president Hamid Karzai to resign after Afghan security forces were unable to handle the attacks.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2012.

COMMENTS (18)

Jamset Ram C | 11 years ago | Reply

@US CENTCOM:

Thank you for your article, but you are using incorrect nomenclature when you refer to the Taliban as terrorists. The Taliban were the recognized Government prior to American occupation of Afghanistan, and therefore should be referred to as “Freedom Fighters” or “Guerrilla Fighters”. I prefer the term “Guerrilla Fighters” which has been a well known term in the English language since about 1809, and is understood by most English speakers. However, for the few who do not, the term “Guerrilla Fighters” refers to an irregular group of combatants who fight behind enemy lines in their own country, attack the enemy, in their own country, using tactics such as ambush and quickly withdraw. The term “Terrorist” is more appropriate when it is applied to fighting groups such as MEK, MKO. JUNDULLA, PKK, PAJK, and others. “Terrorists” are groups of fighters who are trained by foreign countries to create terror in another country. It is quite difficult to actually define terrorism, but the groups mentioned are reasonably good examples of terrorists. They are basically trained by Western Powers to infiltrate and disrupt countries they disagree with. Libya and Syria are good examples of this. Obviously, it would require many words to fully describe what terrorism means, but the few above may help you. Additionally, it may be to your advantage if you brush up on “The Articles of War” outlined in the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Western countries appear to completely ignore the Conventions, but we have to start somewhere.

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observer | 11 years ago | Reply

@Roflcopter

@BruteForce, TTP is already on its last legs, I’m sorry but I’m afraid your dream won’t come true.

While you and your friends in Bannu were looking the other way, the TTP broke open a jail and freed 400 of its comrades.

It seems some entity, other than TTP, is on its last legs.

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