INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russias GRU military intelligence agency paid 10s of millions of dollars to militant groups in Afghanistan to target United States , allied
and Afghan military forces in the years leading up to the United States withdrawal from the country, according to a report by The Insider
investigative outlet released Wednesday.The Insiders findings substantiate a 2020 report by The New York Times, citing United States
authorities, that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to kill United States -led union troops in Afghanistan
Washington later on saidit had low to moderate self-confidence in the claims, while Moscow rejected the reports.The Insider pointed out
anonymous former Afghan intelligence (NDS) authorities as stating that the years-long GRU-Taliban program paid approximately $200,000 per
eliminated United States or union soldier, with smaller payments for killed Afghan troops.Russias overall payment to the Taliban through
the operation amounted to roughly $30 million, one former NDS official estimated.The outlet linked the operation to GRU Unit 29155, which
has apparently been behind numerous poisonings, battles and other hidden destabilization efforts in the West.Unit 29155 apparently recruited
a minimum of three networks of Afghan nationals to serve as intermediaries between it and prohibited armed groups in Afghanistan.The program
was said to have begun with a minimum of 2015 and kicked into high equipment around 2016, when Donald Trump was chosen to his first term as
president.Following the 2020 New York Times report, Democrats indicated the reports as proof that then-President Trump was failing to stand
up to Russia.But apart from the concern being brought up throughout a January 2021 call between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, the
United States did not take particular action against Russia over the reported operation.Six former CIA officers who have evaluated the
intelligence on the GRUs Afghan operations informed The Insider that the findings complement and magnify what has been the traditional
wisdom of the United States intelligence neighborhood over the past four years a conventional knowledge that has frequently been undermined
or occluded by politicized agendas.There are many instances when we got punched in the face and were told to do absolutely nothing about it
for fear of escalation, one former CIA officer told the outlet
This was one.The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 in a disorderly pull-out that drew derision from Russia
The Taliban swept to power not long after Afghanistans United States -backed government collapsed.Moscow has considering that strengthened
its partnership with the Taliban in spite of the groups status as a banned terrorist organization in Russia.The Insider declared that the
GRU officer in charge of the GRU-Taliban program continues to act as an important backchannel interlocutor negotiating intelligence and
military cooperation between Moscow and Kabul.A number of other operatives associated with the operation were given Russian passports and
identities following the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan
The Insiders investigative partner Der Spiegel found that some remained in Russia, while others settled in India and even western Europe.
