NATO soldiers watch smoke billow after a Talban attack Wednesday in Kabul.

NATO soldiers watch smoke billow after a Talban attack Wednesday in Kabul. Musadeq Sadeq/AP

Taliban announces 'spring offensive'

Annual campaign comes on the heels of President Obama's surprise visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The Taliban announced that its "spring offensive" in Afghanistan will officially begin on Thursday, the Associated Press reported, but no details were released.

The annual campaign comes on the heels of President Obama's surprise visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday. After signing an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the president said that the United States will turn over combat operations to the Afghans in 2014.

A bomb exploded shortly after Obama left Afghanistan, killing 7 people and sending 18 more to the hospital, in an attack for which the Taliban took credit.

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