FILE IMAGE: Taliban members
According to The Times, Russia is reportedly funding Taliban military operations in Afghanistan through a covert program of laundered fuel sales. The information allegedly came from members of the Taliban and Afghan officials.
The report said that Russia’s intelligence services are sending fuel tankers into the country through the Hairatan border crossing with Uzbekistan to companies operating on behalf of the Taliban.
According to The Times’ sources, about $2.5 million per month is raised from the sale of this fuel which is then delivered directly to insurgent paymasters. The report claims that Russia has accelerated its support in recent months in an apparent attempt to bolster the Taliban against ISIS militants.
“We sell the fuel on and distribute the money directly to our commanders,” a Taliban treasurer from Ghazni province told The Times. He had been authorized to speak to a journalist as part of the Taliban’s efforts to advertise its relationship with international backers, in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to send in more troops. “Accepting money from the Russians is not something we like doing,” the Taliban treasurer said, “but it is necessary at this stage of our jihad.”
Afghan defense ministry replied to the report by saying that Russia needs to support the Afghan government. “It is not correct. If Russia has done this or not, it is not correct and it is нnot in favor of Russia also. Russia is a friend to Afghanistan, not an enemy and it should support Afghan security and defense forces,” defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.
A number of parliament members meanwhile said Russia is trying to take over the management of war in the region. “Russia wants to control the war in the region, but Afghanistan’s enemies should not be strengthened through a proxy war and the Afghan people should not suffer because of their war,” politician Naheed Farid said.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the allegations, calling them a distraction “aimed at drawing international attention away from the failure of NATO’s military policy in Afghanistan.”
This report comes as at least 43 servicemen were killed in an attack targeting a military base in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province, according to Afghan defense ministry.
The attack began with a suicide car bomb and was followed by an assault that overran the base. Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the ministry, said that the attack killed at least 60 Afghan soldiers and injured many more. At least ten Taliban were also killed in the attack.
This comes days after similar attacks occurred in Paktia and Ghazni provinces which left at least 70 people dead and dozens of others injured.
Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations of supporting the Taliban. Former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai also denied Russia’s involvement with the Taliban, calling the accusations “untrue”.
“Since the beginning of the US operations in Afghanistan Russia has never supported the Taliban,” he said. He also added that if Russia did start negotiating with the Taliban, the US were the ones to be held responsible, as their presence in Afghanistan did not stop the terrorists, but only bolstered them.
zio satanic losers and their lapdog, aka supreme race in hell, have no shame – they cant accept the fact that they have been defeated totally in syria and iraq – led by russia
Where is the Taliban getting fuel to sell, it’s not like Afghanistan is oil rich? As if ‘The Times’ has foreign correspondents in Afghanistan, the U.S. doesn’t have foreign correspondents anymore. I wonder who is really feeding them the story.
The Coalition claims they’re it’s coming from Russia. The coalition ships its fuel in through Pakistan. It stands to reason that Russian fuel shipped in through any of the – stans would cost less than Arabian fuel shipped in via Pakistan. As would Iranian fuel shipped across the western border. But it wouldn’t be as controllable.
The ‘story’ is probably coming out of a Pentagon public affairs office.
They are just making excuses that their enemy have a support from the great power country, but in reality they are defeated alone by the insurgents and herder, usa doeant understand that foreigner in afghanistan are not welcome either from the west or the east
This is the same Taliban that the US supported during the Soviet era? LOL
Indeed
So what iof the Russians did, US still doing it, using terrorists. Payback?
Somebody has been stopping them from winning – for 17 years.
The US is not capable of winning much these days. Without the support of the citizenry in any country the options are ‘ de facto slavery’ or take the troops back home. These days only local warlords and dictators want US intervention.
If Russia is secretly supporting the Taliban war effort against NATO, by supporting the Taliban proxy, why is this an outrage when US and the axis of evil openly supported jihadi proxies in Syria and Northern Africa? NATO is involved in a meaningless war in Afghanistan, the Taliban with help can’t slowly bleed them and make their lives difficult. Even with private contractors from US, the situation on the ground will not change much.
I see some pattern lately that they’d blame someone else for their failure. If they think by blaming others for their failure erases or free them from their failure then they’re terribly delusional.
Sounds like a very large load of manure to me. The whole premise is laughable. Too bad the US has to resort to Israeli tactics of the huge lie. The only problem is that everyone, everywhere, has caught on to their BS. Only those that consume MSM bullshit believe anything the ‘coalition’ or western media says.
Well they do lead you to believe that the Taliban is ‘fielding’ mechanized forces, don’t they?
Reverse blame/mirror transposition and so Times.
Doesn’t Murdoch own The Times? The same Murdoch who runs Genie Energy with his mates, Rothschild, Chenie and Summers? Is that why The Times has to make up the script as it goes? How low they have fallen.
How many times do we have to say it AH ? You Bolsheviks will not have your 100th class reunion in Moscow – Washington is set up for it – The Trotsky’s and Lenin’s are already – there.
Soros took them with him, when he arrived in the USA. Doesn’t appear as though they want to leave, does it?
Nope ! NY loves them -LOL
2.5 million a month? That’s the Russians supporting the Taliban? With that amount? Excuse me while I’m pissing myself and laughing my ass off. 3/4 of the world’s opium production comes from Afghanistan, with the Taliban making good money from that. 2.5 million a month? They make that every day selling dope to the West. If not more so.
The CIA makes that a day flying it “around” , still the warlords get their cut , and the Taliban , gives them the squeeze . I could be wrong , but I’ve read they are not pro – poppy .
They weren’t when they were in power. But that changed when the US and NATO came and ousted them. They have to fund their war effort somehow. Pakistani support only goes so far, and you can’t fight the world’s biggest military power on prayer alone. Examine any terrorist or resistance movement that manages to sustain itself and you’ll find that it is involved in organized crime. Drugs, extortion, trafficking. The PKK was infamous for extorting money, a socalled resistance tax, from Turkish Kurds living in Europe. Similarly for the IRA and ETA. In a sense even the Mafia started out as a sort of underground resistance movement that morphed into organized crime.
And most western governments especially the US and Israel and the ultimate in organised crime from international murder, robbery, drug and organ traffiking to illegal land seizures, ilegal wars and international protection rackets dressed up as “sanctions”.
Taliban actually almost crushed poppy growers when they ran Afghanistan. SInce nato invasion that poppy growth skyrocketed
history is cruel sometimes. but its funny if you are not involved.
created by cia and isi (pak intel) to combat the russian “humanitarian mission” in afg. then (getting to big to handle) getting bombed by the western world. and later used by the russians to limit the influence of the us.
but this is history, it’s funny, isn’t it?
For some context read this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-faction-renouncers.html It claims that the Afghan government (and indirectly also the US) is supporting a dissident faction of the Taliban and ISIS under an “the enemy of my enemy” policy.
Moscow has shown itself very disturbed by the rise of ISIS in Afghanistan. So it obviously isn’t happy with this development. I don’t know whether it actually supports the Taliban. But it seems to consider it the lesser evil.
THE LIES and propaganda of CIA/Military knows no limits! Nasty U$A; FACTs; It was the U$A under Jimmy Carter-Democrazy President starting back in 1978 onward and Jim Casey CIA started arming and funding thee Talibans who were using those weapons on Russian soldiers! In those days Saudi Arabia/Pakistan/China and others were falling over themselves to fight Russians. Since then U$A CARRIED ARMING/FUNDING AND TRAINING terrorists up to the present! They keep changing their stories but, they use the same playbook! Emire ambitious U$A is the one which must resort to CRI INALITY to build their empire based on destruction/death the ruling DOTARDS in Washington.
If this rumour is true then it is fine let Russia use USA/NATO abandoned terrorist against USA.Let USA drink from its own golden cup.Amen.
Times? Then wipe your ass with the Times.