It seems ridiculous to be talking about the 2015 spring offensive in January of 2016, but the reality is that what were previously seasonable Taliban offensives have become one year-round advance, with forces attacking seemingly every high security site nationwide.
Afghan officials are trying to downplay the situation, saying their security forces are able to handle the attacks, but with the military stretched thin and in many cases imaginary, it seems to be all they can do to avoid getting overrun in some districts, and even that is impossible in others.
With ground being lost at an alarming rate, the US is increasingly putting special forces back on the front lines, embedding them with the most forward-deployed of the Afghan troops who are engaged most directly in combat with the Taliban.
This deployment strategy is aimed at stemming loss, not at all in keeping with the narrative that the war is being won and the US troops are just there to train. This has led to the Pentagon trying to spin this combat missions as “advisory” posts, and desperately trying to avoid admitting to anything like combat going on in the Afghan War.