Russia denies US claims that it is arming Afghan Taliban
▶ Nato’s top commander says tribal leaders have brought in arms they say were given to militants by Moscow
Russia has denied comments by Nato’s top commander in Afghanistan that it has been supporting and supplying weapons to the Taliban.
Gen John Nicholson said that Russia had been undermining US efforts in Afghanistan despite shared interests in fighting terrorism and narcotics, with indications that Moscow was providing financial support and arms.
“We’ve had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and said this was given by the Russians to the Taliban,” Gen Nicholson told the BBC last week.
The Russian embassy in Kabul dismissed the comments as “idle gossip”, repeating previous denials by Russian officials.
“Once again, we insist that such statements are absolutely baseless and appeal to officials not to talk nonsense,” the embassy said.
US commanders have said on several occasions over the past year that Russia may be supplying arms to the Taliban, although no confirmed evidence has been presented.
But Gen Nicholson’s comments were unusually blunt and came amid growing tensions between Nato members and Moscow over Sergei Skripal, a former intelligence agent who was poisoned with a rare nerve agent in Britain.
Russian officials have said that their limited contact with the Taliban was to encourage peace talks and ensure the safety of Russian citizens. Moscow has offered to help co-ordinate peace talks in Afghanistan.
Taliban officials have told Reuters that the group has had significant contact with Moscow since at least 2007, adding that Russian involvement did not extend beyond “moral and political support”.
Moscow has been critical of the US and Nato over their handling of the war in Afghanistan but Russia initially provided helicopters for the Afghan military and agreed to a supply route for coalition materials through its country.
Most of that co-operation has fallen apart as relations between Russia and the West deteriorated in recent years over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Afghanistan has suffered a general deterioration in security, with the Taliban and ISIL killing thousands of civilians every year.
Yesterday in the western city of Herat, a suicide attack near a Shiite mosque killed at least one person and wounded eight, police said.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed another blast that was claimed by the group in Kabul last week.
That bombing killed about 30 people near a Shiite shrine as the city celebrated the new year festival of Nowruz.
Deputy police chief Aminullah Amin said that in yesterday’s attack, two bombers tried to enter the mosque but were challenged by security guards who opened fire on them.
“Our Shiite brothers were praying in the mosque when two suicide bombers entered the mosque compound. Fortunately, the bombers were identified by Afghan police and local residents,” he said.
Mr Amin said one of the bombers was shot while the second detonated his explosives.
Herat, one of the most prosperous cities in Afghanistan, has experienced episodes of violence but has not suffered the same level of attacks as the capital Kabul.
The local ISIL affiliate first appeared in Afghanistan three years ago. Its main stronghold is in the eastern region of Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, but fighters declaring allegiance to the group have been active in northern Afghanistan.
The group has claimed attacks in Kabul and other cities, although many experts doubt it has the capacity to launch such attacks alone and believe it may have received help at times from other militant groups.