Polls show Americans believe Russia targeted U.S. soldiers

NEW YORK — Amajority of Americans believe that Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan last year amid negotiations to end the war, and more than half want to respond with new economic sanctions against Moscow, according to a Reuters/ipsos poll released onwednesday.

The national opinion poll conducted onmonday and Tuesday shows that the American public remains deeply suspicious of Russia four years after it tried to tip the U.S. presidential election in Donald Trump's favor, and most Americans are unhappy with how the president has handled relations with the country.

The Reuters/ipsos poll follows a series of reports, including several by Reuters, that Russia had been rewarding Talibanaffiliated militants, possibly by offering them bounties, to attack and kill U.S. troops in the region. Moscow denies the allegations.

The New York Times and Washington Post both reported that several American soldiers were believed to have died as a result of the bounties.

Trump said last week he was not told about the reported Russian effort, because intelligence officials were uncertain about its veracity. The New York Times reported that the president received written briefings about the program earlier this year, and it was also included in a widely read CIA report in May.

Overall, 60 per cent of Americans said they found reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers to be “very” or “somewhat” believable, while 21 per cent said they were not credible and the rest were unsure.