By Saeed Ali Achakzai, Reuters The fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has urged his followers to step up suicide attacks on foreign and Afghan troops and remain united, according to a Taliban commander. Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent weeks after a winter lull, following last year’s bloodiest …

BBC News – The Taleban have threatened that hundreds of suicide bombers will attack the Afghan government and foreign military targets this year. Mark Dummett reports from Kabul on the increasing fear of violence in the country. It seems as if the Taleban’s much-hyped spring offensive may have finally begun, …

By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press A purported Taliban statement demanded the release of a number of the group’s fighters and the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the freedom of two kidnapped French aid workers. Separately, suspected Taliban militants ambushed a police patrol in eastern Afghanistan in …