KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban insurgents will increase the number of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 52 foreign troops so far this year, the movement’s reclusive leader said Wednesday.

In an emailed statement congratulating Muslims as they prepare to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday, Mullah Mohammad Omar urged “every brave Afghan in the ranks of the foreign forces and their Afghan hirelings … to strike them.”