Behind the Russian plot to pay Taliban for killing US troops

Intelligence sources says British soldiers also targeted in covert operation in Afghanistan

US troops in Afghanistan
Intelligence sources says British soldiers also targeted in covert operation in Afghanistan
(Image credit: 2009 Getty Images)

The Russian military unit that poisoned former double agent Sergei Skripal has been paying Taliban fighters to kill American troops serving in Afghanistan, according to US intelligence reports.

In a “significant and provocative escalation” of the Putin government’s covert activities, Russian agents “secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces”, says The New York Times (NYT).

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