Iran Press/ Asia: "I am ordering Afghan security forces to switch from an active defense mode to an offensive one and to start their operations against the enemies," Ghani said in a televised address on Tuesday.
At least 24 people were killed - including newborns and nurses - when gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the capital, Kabul early on Tuesday, officials said
Shortly afterward, the ISIS terrorist group claimed it carried out a suicide blast at a funeral in the country's restive Nangarhar in the east, which left more than 45 mourners dead and dozens more injured.
"Today, we witnessed terrorist attacks by the Taliban and Daesh groups on a hospital in Kabul and a funeral in Nangarhar, as well as other attacks in the country," Ghani said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The Taliban group strongly reacted to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s order to Afghan forces to revive offensive operations against the group.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson of the group, in a statement, said the declaration of war by Ghani demonstrates that he (Ghani) is looking to preserve his authority under the shadow of war.
Mujahid further rejected his group involvement in the Kabul and Nangarhar attacks added that the group is fully prepared to respond to any kind of movement or attack.
He went on to claim that the group only carried out attacks in the areas where the Afghan forces carried out offensives and established security posts and bases.
Furthermore, Mujahid warned that the Kabul administration would be responsible for all the consequences and intensity of war
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