Taliban Announces New Offensive

The New York Times reports:

KABUL — The Taliban announced that the insurgent group’s spring fighting season would begin officially across Afghanistan on Sunday in an unusual news statement that aimed to project an image of strength and concern for civilians, even as NATO warned the public to expect insurgent efforts to launch a major attack.

The United Nations special representative, Staffan de Mistura, meanwhile, said both sides should redouble their efforts to avoid killing civilians as the fighting is expected to ratchet up with the arrival of good weather.

“If there is a spring offensive , who should not be paying the price is civilians,” he said. “Since the Taliban have been responsible for the biggest civilian casualties, we are addressing them first, but we are also addressing NATO and asking them to do the same.”

According to the United Nations, the insurgents were responsible for 75 percent of civilian casualties in 2010 and NATO forces were responsible for 16 percent. (In the remaining cases, the culprit was unclear.)

The Taliban appeared aware of the concerns those numbers raised, and in their news release they twice mentioned civilian protection. They said they would make every effort to avoid attacks that hurt civilians, but also warned that “all Afghan people should bear in mind to keep away from gatherings, convoys, and centers of the enemy.”

The Taliban define the enemy as NATO troops, as well as foreign and Afghan contractors who assist NATO and the Afghan government. And the news release explicitly said that civilian members of the High Peace Council, created by the government to reach out to the insurgents, would be targets.

The release said the council’s members were “trying to pave the way for the prolongation of the American occupation by cashing in on the name of jihad, religion and tribal chieftainship.”

NATO officials see the Taliban promises to protect civilians as little more than propaganda.