Top US general ‘not convinced’ troops killed for Russian bounty

A top US general said intelligence suggesting Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan was a matter of concern but said he was not convinced this had resulted in the death of any US military personnel.

This comes after the Washington Post reported late last month that alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan reportedly resulted in the deaths of several US military members over the past few months.

According to the Washington Post, the intelligence emerged following US military interrogations of captured militants in recent months.

However, the Pentagon has subsequently said it had “no corroborating evidence” to validate the allegations. Moscow has also denied any truth in the allegations.

On Tuesday, the head of US Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, told reporters that the US has not increased force protection measures in Afghanistan as a result of the information but said he has asked his intelligence staff to investigate the matter.

“I sent the intelligence guys back to continue to dig on it. And I believe they’re continuing to dig right now,” he said.

“I’m very familiar with this material and I’m a theatre commander and I’ve had an opportunity to look at it. I found it very worrisome. I just didn’t find that there was a causative link there,” McKenzie said.

He said however, that Russia has long been a threat in Afghanistan. McKenzie said that the Russians were “not our friends in Afghanistan and they do not wish us well.”

The US has in the past accused Russia of possibly providing support, including weapons, to elements of the Taliban. Russia has however always denied having supported the insurgents.

But McKenzie said that whether the Russians were paying them or not, “the Taliban have done their level best to carry out operations against us.”

US forces in Afghanistan suffered a total of 10 deaths from hostile gunfire or improvised bombs in 2018, and 16 in 2019. Two have been killed this year.