ANALYSIS

The Taliban had vowed retaliation for the massacre of civilians in Kandahar.

Today they claimed this was it.

This was retaliation also for that video of US marines urinating on dead Afghans, as well as for that infamous incident – for this part of the world – when the Koran was burned in Bagram Airbase.

So, said their spokesman an hour or so after claiming the start of their Spring Offensive.

At the time of writing, reports suggest the fighting has not stopped, as what are meant to be the most securely guarded areas on earth are being attacked almost at will by a very small number of highly focused men.

Who would have imagined that heavily guarded embassies, fortresses like Hamid Karzai’s own Presidential compound, would be picked almost at will by fighters who appear out of nowhere and then vanish.

Is this the Taliban’s ‘Tet’ moment – it would appear that is exactly what is unfolding in the Afghan capital and surrounding cities.