Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan: Intelligence Has Not Corroborated Report on Russian Bounties

Months after The New York Times first reported that Russian officials paid Taliban fighters bounties to attack U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the commander overseeing forces in Afghanistan says the intelligence officials have not corroborated that report. 

In an interview with NBC News, Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said, “It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me.”

He added, “We continue to look for that evidence … I just haven’t seen it yet. But … it’s not a closed issue.”

Additionally, McKenzie said, “I found what they presented to me very concerning, very worrisome. I just couldn’t see the final connection, so I sent my guys back and said, look, keep digging. So we have continued to dig and look because this involves potential threats to U.S. forces, it’s open.”

Still, he said he hasn’t “seen anything that closes that gap yet.”

In June, the Times reported that in June that Russian officials paid bounties to Taliban fighters to attack U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

The report read, “Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said. Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion.”

However, shortly after publication, the Defense Department said it had not corroborated the information