Reports by The New York Times citing US intelligence assessments surged on June 26, 2020 alleging that some Russian intelligence unit paid members of the Taliban to conduct deadly attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan. While Russia has denied allegations that it offered bounties to Taliban militants for killing American & British troops in Afghanistan, the Trump Administration did not make early comments about these reports. Did really Russia pay Taliban militants to target US and Coalition soldiers in Afghanistan?
The New York Times Claims
According to The New York Times, the US intelligence community’s claims were allegedly supported by data obtained showing financial transfers from the General Directorate of Intelligence of Russia to a Taliban-linked account.
Joe Biden statement
Joe Biden, Democratic nominee for President of the United States attacked U.S. President Donald Trump over the matter declaring that, if these reports are true, it is a “truly shocking revelation” about the Trump administration and its failure to protect U.S. troops in Afghanistan and stand up to Russia.
British government
According to Sky News, the intelligence was shared with British officials recently and Boris Johnson have been briefed about the matter. The British government is reportedly preparing to respond to the news and take action.
The Taliban
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied the allegations while stating that Taliban militants didn’t have “any such relations with any intelligence agency”. The Taliban called the report to be an attempt to defame them.
Russia’s Response
Russia called the report, “nonsense.” The Russian Foreign Ministry declared that “This unsophisticated plant clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence, who instead of inventing something more plausible have to make up this nonsense,”.
The US government
The White House reported that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence was briefed on such intelligence before it became public. Trump tweeted that “nobody briefed” or told him about the issue.
The Pentagon spokesman declared that “The Department of Defense has no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations found in open-source reports”. As a reminder, the US coalition troops have been fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan since the United States intervention in the country following the September 11 attacks in late 2001. Lately, the US government and the Taliban have signed a deal to “bring peace” to Afghanistan after more than 18 years of conflict.
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