Afghanistan’s Taliban said it will launch its spring offensive on Friday, again demanding immediate withdrawal of remaining foreign forces from the country.

The operations under “the inspirational name of ‘Azm’ (Resolution)” will target “foreign occupiers,” their permanent military bases, their intelligence and diplomatic centers, the insurgent group announced in a statement emailed to VOA.

The Taliban said the Afghan intelligence, interior ministry and defense ministry will also be targeted. 

It added that the even though foreign forces have announced the termination of their military operations inside Afghanistan, they are still controlling national affairs through the “Basic Security Agreement.”

The militant group was referring to the security pacts Kabul has signed with the United States and NATO to allow a small force of around 12,000 troops to remain in Afghanistan after the bulk of international forces withdrew in December.

“The foreign occupiers are still carrying out drone strikes and night operations against the civilian people and absolutely controls the military and fighting command and control system of the heterogeneous regime under the so called ‘Basic Security Agreement,’ ” the statement said.

There are fears 2015 could be an extremely violent fighting season.

The United Nations has warned that civilian casualties from ground battles rose by 8 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2014. Through the end of March, the report said 136 civilians had been killed and 385 had been wounded.
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