Russia accused of offering Taliban bounty for killing US troops in Afghanistan
Sunday, 28 June 2020 (11:31 IST)
Moscow: Russia has rejected accusations that it offered money to Taliban militants to kill US and other NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Several US media report earlier said in a report that a Russian military intelligence unit had offered money to Taliban-linked fighters to kill US troops and other members of the NATO coalition operating in Afghanistan.
As per the media reports the Taliban-linked fighters, or elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected at least some reward money from the Russians.
Russia in a tweet denounced the accusations, with the Russian embassy in Washington, DC calling them “baseless and anonymous”.
The tweet added the claims had “already led to direct threats to the life of employees of the Russian Embassies in Washington DC and London”.
A Taliban Spokesperson also called the accusations baseless.
“Our target killings and assassinations were ongoing in years before, and we did it on our own resources,” Zabihullah Mujahid told the New York Times.
He added that the “Taliban had stopped attacking US and Nato forces after they agreed in February to a phased troop withdrawal and to lift sanctions. In return, the Taliban said they would not allow extremist groups to operate in areas they control,” BBC reported. (UNI)
