The Taliban attacked government-controlled locations across the country to mark the beginning of their Operation Fath spring offensive. The militant group said it was committed to a "peaceful resolution."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa//XinHua/A. Kakar
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Taliban forces launched a series of attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday, marking a bloody start to their annual spring offensive.
Security officials said there were attacks in 15 provinces.
In the capital, Kabul, Taliban fighters targeted a police station. They also carried out a grenade attack on a military vehicle that killed at least one person and injured six others.
Outside the northern town of Kunduz, a strike killed at least eight people and injured 62.
In the western Ghor province, at least seven members of the Afghan security forces died in an ambush.
In the eastern district of Shirzad, the Taliban claimed a truck bomb killed or wounded "more than 200 soldiers, police and militias." Officials said two Afghan soldiers and 27 Taliban fighters had died.
There were multiple attacks in the opium-rich province of Helmand and in the northern provinces of Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, Faryab and Sar-e Pul.
Taliban 'committed' to peace
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's palace condemned the spring offensive, dubbed Operation Fath by Taliban militants, "in the strongest words."
"The continuation of war is in no one's interest," the palace said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement: "We are committed to the ongoing process of negotiation and peaceful resolution, but we cannot be unmoved in the face of military operations and the terrorist wave of occupiers and mercenaries," blaming Afghan and international forces.
US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad described the attacks as "reckless."
Sign of the times: Most of the attacks were relatively minor. Yet their geographic spread and level of coordination underline the difficulty facing the government as it tries to maintain its grip on the country. Insurgents control roughly half of Afghanistan's territory.
Kunduz's importance:Taliban militants briefly captured Kunduz in 2015, marking their first conquest of a major city since they were ousted in 2001. The northern town lies at a strategic crossroads in a major agricultural region with easy access to Kabul.
What is Operation Fath?The annual spring offensive marks the traditional start of the fighting season, though the Taliban have been carrying out near-daily attacks for most of the year.
State of the peace talks: Roughly 18 years after invading Afghanistan, the US has been trying to forge a peace deal with the Taliban. US officials have met several times with Taliban leaders, and more meetings are expected in Doha later this month. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wants to send a delegation to "exchange views," but the government is effectively locked out of the talks because the Taliban refuse to talk to what they consider a puppet regime.
aw/amp (AP, AFP, Reuters)
Endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
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Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
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A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
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Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
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Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
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Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
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Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
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Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
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An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
