Kabul Photo Casimiri/Wikimedia Commons
As Afghanistan reels from a spate of Taliban bombings, the United States has suggested a Russian hand behind the armed insurgency that has grown fierce over the last year.
General John Nicholson, head of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan said Monday he is “not refuting,” suggestions that Russia – increasingly at odds with the United States over the Syrian conflict – has been backing the Taliban.
Nicholson’s indication on Moscow’s support for the Afghan Taliban – a new form of the Mujahideen, who fought the Soviet Occupation during the 1980s – came during Defense Secretary James Mattis’ maiden visit to Afghanistan.
“Oh no, I am not refuting that,” said Nicholson, days after a major Taliban attack killed more than 100 Afghan security personnel in an attack on the Shaheen base near northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which led to the Afghan defense minister and army chief resigning from their positions.
Mattis is visiting Afghanistan a week after US National Security Adviser HR McMaster visited the conflict-beset country. The two top-level visits take place as the administration of President Donald Trump reviews Afghan policy to spell out its own way out of the Afghan troubles.
Commenting on Russian involvement on the Afghan theater, Mattis vowed to confront Moscow diplomatically.
“We’ll engage with Russia diplomatically. We’ll do so where we can, but we’re going to have to confront Russia where what they’re doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries.”
In recent months, Moscow has stepped up efforts on Afghanistan, after years of estrangement from the landlocked country. This month Moscow hosted a conference of regional countries to discuss way towards Afghan stability. Washington stayed away from the discussions.
While the new United States Administration has not yet announced its Afghan policy, Russia has been calling for reconciliation process as a solution to the Afghan insurgency, and says it has contacts with the Taliban
According to an Afghan journalist, Russian backing for the Taliban has been a game-changer.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters, a senior U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that intelligence showed that Russia was providing monetary and weapons support to the Taliban, specifically weapons such as machine guns.
The supply of weapons has accelerated in the past 18 months, the official said, according to the news organization.
