Various media reports said a Russian military intelligence unit paid bounties to Taliban. The claim is unverifiable as the sources are anonymous.
Various media reports said a Russian military intelligence unit paid bounties to Taliban. The claim is unverifiable as the sources are anonymous.Multiple news reports have cited unnamed U.S. officials saying a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition military forces in Afghanistan. The reports state that the number of Americans or coalition troops from other countries who may have been killed or targetted under the programme remains unclear. It has also been reported that three officials familiar with the intelligence have confirmed large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account. The unnamed sources said that White House officials had been informed of intelligence reports of Russia offering bounties to Taliban militants and that President Trump had received a written briefing early this year. Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said U.S. President Donald Trump was not briefed on the matter and that rogue intelligence officers were behind the leak. President Trump has said that he was unaware of the intelligence briefing.
Spokespeople at the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the C.I.A. have declined to comment. Russia has denied the initial reports, and Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, denied the organization had any relations with any intelligence agency. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said the intelligence community was still investigating the intelligence highlighted by recent media reports and that the President and Congressional leaders would be briefed at the appropriate time. Due to the anonymity of the sources, the claim cannot be verified at the moment.
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