Russian spies paid Taliban to kill US troops

A Russian spy unit paid members of the Taliban to conduct lethal attacks last year on US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.

As part of the pace deal with the US, Taliban prisoners are released from Bagram prison last month. Picture: AFP

A Russian spy unit paid members of the Taliban to conduct lethal ­attacks last year on US and ­coalition troops in Afghanistan, according to a classified American intelligence assessment.

The assessment of the role played by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, in fostering attacks on US soldiers, comes as President Donald Trump is pushing the Pentagon to withdraw a significant portion of US forces from Afghanistan and as diplomats try to forge a peace accord involving the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government.

The intelligence assessment regarding Russia’s actions in ­Afghanistan was delivered to the White House earlier this northern spring, and until recently had been known only to a handful of officials, a person familiar with the ­report said. Its contents were first reported by The New York Times.

It couldn’t be determined whether Russian bounties paid last year to Taliban fighters resulted in any US or coalition combat deaths in Afghanistan.

Australian troops have ­deployed to Afghanistan from 2001, including to Oruzgan in the south of the country. The last combat troops were withdrawn in December 2013, although about 400 troops remain in support and training roles. Forty-one Australians have been killed in the long-running conflict, along with more than 100,000 Afghans and 2500 Americans.

The White House, without confirming the existence of the US intelligence assessment, said Mr Trump has never been briefed on the Russian bounty payments, responding to Democratic and Republican critics who charged that Mr Trump knew of the ­activity and should have halted it.

The Russian foreign ministry, cited by state news agency TASS, called the reports “information fakes” and propaganda. The Russian embassy in the US tweeted that the press reports have led to direct threats to the life of employees of the embassies in Washington and London.

A Taliban spokesman said officials of the Islamic Emirate — the name the organisation gave the government when it controlled of the country — “strongly reject” ­allegations in the assessment, which it said was an attempt to ­interrupt the peace process and confuse advocates of peace in the US

“We reassure our nation and the entire world that the Islamic Emirate is not a tool of anyone nor is it employed for foreign agendas,” the spokesman said.

At issue is a secretive unit of the GRU that has conducted sometimes clandestine lethal operations against Moscow’s adversaries. The same unit was ­responsible for the poisoning in Britain of Sergei Skripal, a former GRU officer who defected to Britain, and his daughter Yulia. Russia has denied involvement.

Revelation of Russia’s alleged actions against US military personnel in Afghanistan prompted criticism of Mr Trump by the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Mr Biden said during a virtual town hall on Sunday AEST that the report, if true, represents a “truly shocking revelation”, noting in particular Mr Trump’s ­reported failure to retaliate. “Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” Mr Biden said, referring to the Russian president.

Mr Biden pledged retaliation if he becomes president.

“If I’m elected president, make no mistake about it, Vladimir Putin will be confronted and we’ll impose serious costs on Russia,” he said.

The Trump administration is expected to withdraw nearly all its forces from Afghanistan by this fall, with a peace agreement between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan hanging in the balance. Those peace talks have stalled but US officials remain hopeful that talks will be revived.

Mr Trump has signalled he would like to pull all American forces from Afghanistan, ending US involvement in a conflict that is now in its 18th year, regardless of a peace settlement.

For years, Moscow kept its distance from the Taliban and other armed Islamist groups in Afghanistan following the Soviet Union’s 1980s defeat at the hands of US-armed rebels known as mujaheddin. But in recent years, US officials said they have seen increasing numbers of small arms provided by Russia in the hands of Taliban fighters. Russia has ­denied sending such weaponry.

The Wall Street Journal