Afghanistan vows to crush any Taliban offensive | Top News | Reuters.com: "ROME (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Friday to strike Taliban insurgents with 'immense vigor and force' as a rebel commander said 10,000 fighters had deployed for a spring offensive against foreign troops in the country.
'As the weather becomes warm and leaves turn green, we will unleash bloody attacks on the U.S.-led foreign troops,' Mullah Abdul Rahim, the Taliban's operational commander for the southern Helmand province, said by satellite phone.
'Our war preparations, especially in southern Afghanistan and in Helmand province, are complete and for this our 10,000 fighters are ready to take up arms the moment they are ordered,' he said, speaking to Reuters in Afghanistan from a secret location."