Taliban begins annual spring offensive with attacks across Afghanistan

Emma Graham-Harrison
The Guardian
May 12, 2014

Credit: isafmedia / Flickr

The Taliban began its annual spring offensive following the end of the poppy harvest with a series of attacks on Monday around Afghanistan that killed at least a dozen people.

The violence came as foreign troops speed up their departure, and Afghan forces prepare for a tough summer “fighting season” with little NATO backup.

A thinktank warned that conflict was escalating in much of the country as militants test the army’s strength and try to claim territory.

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