Taliban announces summer terror plan

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 16 (UPI) -- The Taliban has announced plans for a summer campaign of terror using a large numbers of young recruits in which "Afghan soil will turn red."

The threat came in a 2-page typed statement from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. The former Taliban ambassador to Islamabad, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said the signature appeared genuine, Sky News reported.

"Young Afghans are coming to Mujahedin camps in large numbers to enroll their names for suicide attacks," the statement said. "This year, with the beginning of summer, Afghan soil will turn red for the crusaders and their puppets and the occupiers will face an unpredictable wave of Afghan resistance."

At least 1,600 people were killed in Afghanistan last year, the most since the Taliban was toppled in 2001.