It seems Russia is not the one nation that US intelligence businesses are anonymously accusing of paying bounties to Taliban fighters to assault US troops in Afghanistan. One other bogeyman, Iran, is allegedly guilty this time.
A international authorities paid bounties to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani community for an assault final December on the Bagram Air Base that killed two civilians and injured greater than 70 different folks, together with 4 US troops, CNN reported Monday, citing a Pentagon briefing doc. The media outlet stated “two sources conversant in the intelligence” recognized Iran because the nation behind the bounties.
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CNN gave no indication of the proof on which US intelligence officers based mostly their findings. Specific proof nonetheless hasn’t been supplied for nameless allegations that Russia had paid the Taliban to kill US troopers, which the New York Occasions reported in June. President Donald Trump has known as the accusations towards Russia unverified and stated they had been by no means deemed stable sufficient to transient him on the matter.
Whereas Trump hasn’t punished Russia for the unverified allegations – a lot to the chagrin of CNN and different mainstream media retailers – the Iran case has apparently had penalties. Iran’s ties to the Taliban had been used as a part of the justification for the US drone strike that killed high Iranian Normal Qassem Soleimani in January, CNN stated, citing an nameless administration official.
However the US averted publicly condemning Iran for the Bagram assault and did not pursue a direct army or diplomatic response as a result of such actions may undermine peace talks with the Taliban and make it more durable for Trump to meet his marketing campaign promise of ending the struggle in Afghanistan, CNN stated.
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The Taliban claimed accountability for the Bagram assault, which concerned two automobile bombs. Ten Taliban fighters engaged in a firefight with safety forces and had been killed in airstrikes. On the time, US army officers stated there have been no casualties amongst US and coalition forces, though the Georgian Ministry of Protection stated 5 of its troops suffered minor accidents.
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