Russia supplying arms to Taliban: US

NEWDELHI: We’ve had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and (told) this was given by the Russians to the Taliban

GEN JOHN NICHOLSON, head of the US forces in Afghanistan

The head of the US forces in Afghanistan has said that Russia is supporting and supplying arms to the Taliban.

Gen John Nicholson, in an interview with BBC published on Friday, said he had seen “destabilising activity by the Russians”, adding that Russian weapons were smuggled to the Taliban across the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border. However, he did not say in what quantity.

“We see a narrative that’s being used that grossly exaggerates the number of Isis (Islamic State) fighters here,” Nicholson was quoted as saying.

“This narrative then is used as a justification for the Russians to legitimise the actions of Taliban and provide some degree of support to the Taliban.”

He said Russia had conducted a series of counter-terrorism exercises on the Tajik border, but “we’ve seen the Russian patterns before: they bring in large amounts of equipment and then they leave some of it behind”, the implication being that they can then be smuggled across.

“We’ve had stories written by the Taliban that have appeared in the media about financial support provided by the enemy,” he was quoted as saying.

Russia has previously denied providing aid to the Taliban.

Nicholson’s allegations come at a sensitive point in Russia’s relations with the West. Britain and Russia are currently locked in a bitter dispute over the poisoning of a former spy in the UK, and the EU has indicated that it backs London’s position.

Meanwhile, a US congressional intelligence committee has just concluded that Russian provocateurs meddled in the 2016 presidential election.