Is Russia arming the Afghan Taliban?

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41842285

The US accuses Russia of trying to destabilise Afghanistan by supporting the Taliban. Senior US officials have been saying for months that Moscow is even supplying the militants with weapons.

Russia and the Taliban, who are historic foes, deny the charges. They come amid what some observers see as a "new Cold War" - so how much truth is there to the US claims?

What is the US alleging?

In a BBC interview in late March, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan Gen John Nicholson alleged that Russian weapons were being smuggled across the Tajik border to the Taliban.

He accused Russia of exaggerating the number of Islamic State (IS) fighters in Afghanistan "to legitimise the actions of the Taliban and provide some degree of support to the Taliban".

"We've had weapons brought to this headquarters and given to us by Afghan leaders and [they] said, this was given by the Russians to the Taliban," he said.

Some Afghan police and military officials told the BBC that the Russian military equipment includes night-vision goggles, medium and heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Who agrees?

US officials have accused Moscow of supporting the Taliban for more than a year. In December 2016 Gen Nicholson criticised Russia and Iran for establishing links with the Taliban and "legitimising" the group.

Since then a number of high-ranking US officials, mainly military, have made similar claims, some suggesting Russia is also arming the Taliban.

 

But a number of US and Nato officials have been more cautious.

Testifying at a Senate hearing in May 2017, US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt-Gen Vincent R Stewart said: "I have not seen real physical evidence of weapons or money being transferred."

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US Defense Secretary James Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee in October 2017 that he wanted to see more evidence about the level of Russian support for the Taliban, adding that what he had seen "doesn't make sense".

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is on record saying, in July 2017, "we haven't seen any proofs, any confirmed information about that kind of support".

For its part Tajikistan has denied funnelling Russian weapons to the Taliban, calling Gen Nicholson's claim "groundless".

What's the view of Afghan officials?

The Afghan authorities have also given contradictory statements.

A few provincial officials have been explicit in alleging Moscow's military support for the Taliban. But the spokesman for Afghanistan's chief executive officer (CEO) said in May 2017 that there was no evidence.

Last October President Ashraf Ghani publicly taunted the Taliban for accepting Russian guns.

However, his defence minister said the following month that such reports were just "rumours" and "we don't have evidence".

What do Russia and the Taliban say?

Moscow and the Taliban deny the US claims that they are working together. They separately rejected Gen Nicholson's comments to the BBC, saying he had no evidence.

 

The Russian embassy in Kabul and the foreign ministry in Moscow dismissed such claims as "baseless" and "idle gossip".

A Taliban spokesman said they had not "received military assistance from any country".

Moscow has repeatedly accused the US and Nato of trying to blame Russia for their "failures" and worsening security in Afghanistan.

Russian officials and politicians have even implied that the US and Nato support IS in Afghanistan; a charge the US vehemently denies and most observers find incredible.

Do Russia and the Taliban acknowledge links?

Russia denies materially supporting the insurgents but acknowledges "contacts" with the Taliban.

According to some Taliban sources, a communication channel between Moscow and the Taliban was established almost a decade ago, following the Taliban's removal from power by the US in 2001.

But ties between Moscow and the Taliban have improved significantly over the past three years, especially since the establishment of the so-called "IS Khorasan" group in Afghanistan in January 2015.

[jg121783 3,915]

Accusing Russia of arming the Taliban is about as ridiculous as accusing the US of arming Al Qaeda and ISIS.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

1 hour ago, jg121783 said:

Accusing Russia of arming the Taliban is about as ridiculous as accusing the US of arming Al Qaeda and ISIS.

The piece if reporting is solid and asks good questions. I will take the opinion of a US General over  the blind Faith in Putin.

[Dashinka 24,499]

Interesting, I just watched Charlie Wilson's War a few days ago.  #######-for-tat?

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

It looks like instead of admitting they were wrong, the Press and the Dems are doubling down on the Russia nonsense.