Top US intel officials brief Congress on alleged Russia bounties on US forces in Afghanistan
Top US intelligence officials briefed on Thursday briefed US Congress on alleged Russia offered awards to the Taliban militants for attacks on American and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
CIA Director Gina Haspel and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone met with members of the key US Congress members to tell them directly about the report.
The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a number of other Republicans were briefed behind the closed doors.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives urged the government to impose sanctions against Russia, while others do not believe in the Trump administration’s tough stance on Russia.
“We expect the President of the United States to give them that same force protection, that same priority, and we are disappointed that has not happened. Whatever else happens of this, we must restore those sanctions, and we must act upon them,” said Pelosi.
Earlier, the Taliban and Russia denied the report, but a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said it had only helped the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Russia supplied arms only to the legitimate government of Afghanistan, which is a well-known fact. If our US colleagues want to have a conversation in this context, it would be appropriate to recall the information circulating in Afghanistan regarding the US special services’ support for ISIS with the use of helicopters, which we covered extensively at our briefings one to two years ago, and shielding them from Taliban attacks.”
US officials have not yet commented on Russia’s allegations.
But US forces in Afghanistan and Afghan officials have previously denied the allegations, saying they are committed to suppressing ISIS and that the group has been repressed in many parts of Afghanistan and will continue to fight them.
Officials from the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment say that 294,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit have been exported from the province to foreign countries over the past year.
According to them, the total value of these exports amounts to $519 million.
Abdulbaqi Bina, Deputy Head of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, says the products were exported to India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Canada and several other countries.
Meanwhile, fresh and dried fruit traders are calling on the government to provide alternative transit routes, new markets, and greater facilitation for obtaining visas and transportation for the export of these products.
This comes as nearly 59,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit were exported from Kandahar to foreign countries
The case of 87 Afghan students seeking extensions of their study visas has reached the Islamabad High Court, with the students also asking for protection from arrest, detention and deportation, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
According to Pakistani journalist Tahir Khan, the students have petitioned the court to order the government to extend their visas and prevent law-enforcement agencies from harassing, arresting, detaining or deporting them solely because their previous study visas have expired.
During Friday’s hearing, lawyer Aimal Khan Mandokhel told the court that Pakistan’s Interior Ministry had issued study visas to the Afghan students about a year ago. However, the students say authorities have since stopped extending existing visas and issuing new ones.
The Afghan Students Union at the International Islamic University Islamabad has also said Pakistani authorities have suspended study visa extensions for Afghan students for an extended period. It added that several students have allegedly been arrested and deported in recent months.
The hearing was adjourned following an exchange between Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and lawyer Aimal Khan Mandokhel.
The case is expected to be heard again later this month.
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