Russia Secretly offered Afghan Militants bounties to kill U.S Soldiers, report denied by Russia and Taliban

Washington : American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan which included targeting American troops, amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year.

Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said. 

Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion, NYTimes reported.

The Russian embassy in the US denying the claims had said that said that the report is baseless and is a threats to diplomats. 

The Taliban also denied there was any such deal with Russian intelligence. 

The reports come as the US attempts to negotiate a peace deal to end the 19-year war in Afghanistan. 

According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump was briefed on the reports in March, but the White House has denied this. 

"Neither the president nor the vice-president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence," said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Saturday evening, BBC News Reported. 

“The nineteen-year jihad of the Islamic Emirate is not indebted to the beneficence of any intelligence organ or foreign country,” the Taliban said in a statement issued in Kabul.

“The Islamic Emirate has made use of weapons, facilities and tools ... that were already present in Afghanistan or are war spoils frequently seized from the opposition in battles.” The Taliban said home-made explosives accounted for most of the casualties among US forces, Dawn News reported.