Taliban says it will begin spring offensive in Afghanistan on Friday

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Kunar province in Afghanistan.
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

The Taliban announced Wednesday that this week, they will launch their annual spring offensive against the Afghan government.

In a statement, the Taliban said it is "determined to prolong the ongoing jihad," The Associated Press reports, and will start the offensive on Friday. In previous years, fighting has increased between the Taliban and NATO forces and their allies in the spring as the snow melts. Over the past several weeks, there has also been an uptick in attacks across the northern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, with militants targeting areas that are usually not hit.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.