Russian has long been aiding Taliban: Gen. Milley

KABUL. Gen. Mark Milley, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, told the House armed services committee, that the Pentagon was committed to discovering whether Russian military intelligence had paid for attacks on US soldiers in Afghanistan.

He said military intelligence agencies were working to corroborate reports of Russia paying Taliban militants bounties for killing US soldiers and vowed a response if they were confirmed.

International media outlets reported on Friday that the general suggested the US might not be responding to the reports as robustly as necessary in non-military ways.

“The issue is at the strategic level,” he said. “Are there diplomatic and informational and economic … sanctions, are there démarches, are there phone calls, is there pressure, those sorts of things,” he added.

Gen. Milley continued some of those things were done. “Are we doing as much as we could or should? Perhaps, not, not only to the Russians but to others.”

However, the Taliban scorned the report about the bounties they were allegedly offered by Russians as rumor and baseless accusations.

sa/mud

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