Pat Dollard

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Fri Mar 28, 1:23 AM ET

DUBAI (AFP) – The Taliban declared the beginning today of a spring offensive against coalition forces in Afghanistan in a statement posted on Islamist Internet forums, the SITE monitoring group said.

“The winter season is about to end, and here spring looms on the horison, and in order for the continuity of doing the holy jihad (war), the Islamic Emirate begins a new series of operations,” said the statement attributed to Taliban’s deputy leader, Mullah Bradar Muhammad.

“Our aim in these operations is to give the enemy an admonishing lesson through conclusive and painful strikes he does not anticipate” said the English translation of the statement provided by the SITE Thurdsday.

Vowing to bring down the government of President Hamid Karzai, the statement urged civilian and military government employees to quit and “join the battle beside the mujahedeen (holy warriors) to liberate the country.”

“All the mujahedeen should continue forward in their effectiveness in jihad with intensified military operations in accordance with the detailed plans and programmes approved and given to them,” it added.

A car bomb which killed eight Afghan civilians on Wednesday near a crowded bazaar in southern Afghanistan was claimed by Taliban.

The hardline movement was forced from government in late 2001 in a US-led invasion of Afghanistan. But in recent years the resurgent Taliban have waged a bloody insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives.