SPRING KICKOFF

Afghanistan: Taliban to Begin Offensive

This week.

The Taliban announced Wednesday their plans to begin a spring offensive against the Afghan government this week. The group gave the Friday start date in a statement emailed to the media, calling the campaign "Azm," or perserverence in Dari and Arabic. The Taliban typically begin fighting with NATO forces and their local allies after the snow melts, but this year marks the first time they will battle just Afghan forces after the withdrawal of most international combat troops at the end of 2014. The insurgents' statement condemned security agreements between the U.S. and Afghan government, which allows NATO and the U.S. to maintain limited non-combat troops to help train and assist.