Taleban warns of attacks

The Taleban vowed on Wednesday to launch a wave of attacks in a spring offensive as a surge of American troops arrives in Afghanistan. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

KABUL - THE Taleban vowed on Wednesday to launch a wave of attacks in a spring offensive as a surge of American troops arrives in Afghanistan, a threat delivered on the same day that 42 militants were reported killed in clashes.

Taleban leaders regularly boast of impending attacks that never materialize - such as proclaiming that hundreds or thousands of suicide bombers were waiting to attack around the country - but the new threat from a top-tier commander could signal a more aggressive stance.

A US military spokesman said the Taleban's warning showed the militants are worried by the rising number of international troops.

Mullah Berader, a top deputy to Taleban commander Mullah Omar, said the Taleban would unleash ambushes, roadside bombings and suicide attacks on Thursday against foreign and Afghan troops, government officials and 'whoever is supporting invaders in our country.' 'As American and Nato countries plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, it is necessary for the Afghans and Afghan mujahideen to defend their country,' militant spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a statement that he attributed to Berader.

Taleban fighters have increased attacks the last three years in a resurgence following the toppling of their radical Islamist regime by a US-led invasion in late 2001.

President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 more US troops to the country to bolster the 38,000 American and 32,000 allied troops already in the country.

Given the influx, US commanders have long said they expect a spike in violence this summer, the season when Taleban attacks are most numerous. Many of the new troops will deploy to southern Afghanistan, the Taleban's stronghold.

Colonel Greg Julian, spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan, called Berader's threat a sign that the US is making the right move by pouring troops into the militants' southern strongholds, where they fund their operations with profits from opium poppies and heroin.

'This is a demonstration that this is the worst possible thing that could happen in their mind. They don't want to see an increase in troops because they know they will be forced away from their source of income and it could lead to their demise,' Julian said.

The US and other Nato countries now have some 70,000 soldiers in Afghanistan - a record level. -- AP