Story highlights 3 officers, including a deputy police chief, are killed in a roadside bombing

The Taliban claims responsibility for the blast and says it's starting a new offensive

The group vows to target foreign troops as well as local government and police

The Taliban have launched their spring offensive, their annual spate of attacks targeting foreign bases, government officials and Afghan police, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday.

On Sunday morning, a roadside bomb killed three police officers in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, provincial spokesman Nabi Jan said. A Ghanzi deputy police chief was among those killed, and two other officers were injured, Jan said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack -- and said more will come.

"Today was our first day of the new operation, and we conducted many operations in several provinces such as Ghazni province, Kapisa province and Nangarhar province," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told CNN.

He said the new spring offensive will target foreign military bases and foreign convoys as well as attacks on Afghan National Police and the Kabul government. The group will use suicide attacks and rockets, Mujahid said.

"We hope to plan and conduct more attacks on foreign troops so as to force them to leave Afghanistan," the Taliban spokesman added.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was sheltering the al Qaeda terror network when it launched attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. The next month, the United States cranked up military operations that led to the toppling of the Taliban government.

Ever since, international forces have been fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.