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April 25th, 2024 | 10:49 PM ET

Taliban on the Offensive

Posted: April 20th, 2016

One week after announcing the start of its annual “spring offensive” – dubbed “Operation Omari” after the late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar – the Taliban carried out a suicide attack in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, leaving at least 28 dead and more than 300 injured. This attack demonstrates the Taliban’s ability to execute operations in Afghanistan fifteen years after the U.S. first deployed troops to the country.

From a military standpoint, the attack in Kabul is seen more as a symbolic act than a Taliban battlefield victory. “An attack like this is really intended to send a broader public message, both to Afghan audiences – that is to demonstrate not only that the Taliban are still there but that they can attack anywhere in the country that they choose, even some of the most sensitive sites in Kabul,” explains Cipher Brief expert Daniel Markey.

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