U.S. forces in Afghanistan Tuesday warned of fresh militant attacks in several provinces, including Kabul.
A public announcement issued in the capital named eight would-be attackers and released an Afghan cell phone number ((0702210396)), encouraging anyone with information on the individuals to call.
"Insurgents from the Haqqani and Taliban networks are known to be planning attacks on the Afghan people" in the northeast provinces of Parwan, Khost, Kabul and Logar, the statement said, without giving more details.
The eastern Khost province borders Pakistan and traditionally has been a stronghold of the Haqqani network.
The Taliban launched its annual spring offensive in Afghanistan on April 12 and vowed to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan security forces.
Recent Kabul attack
The public warning comes a week after a Taliban bomb-and-gun attack in the heart of Kabul that killed nearly 70 people and wounded 347 more. The Islamist insurgency claimed responsibility.
Officials said the Haqqani network plotted the coordinated assault on a facility linked to the Afghan intelligence agency, alleging the militant group is operating from Pakistan and has links to that country’s intelligence agency. Pakistan has rejected allegations it is aiding insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan condemns all forms and manifestation of terrorism and it is committed in the fight against this menace," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. He was responding to remarks that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered Monday in a speech to the parliament in Kabul.
Ghani accused Islamabad of not helping in the Afghan peace efforts and of not stopping Taliban insurgents from using Pakistani soil for plotting attacks in Afghanistan.
Spokesman Zakaria insisted Pakistan is making "serious efforts" to promote Afghan peace and reconciliation but said Pakistan alone is not responsible for bringing the Taliban back to the table. Zakaria said all members in the so-called Quadrilateral Coordination Group shared the responsibility to do so.
The group, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China, has been trying to arrange peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.
