PresidentĀ Donald TrumpĀ isĀ denying reports that Russian intelligence officials paid bounties to Taliban soldiersĀ for killing U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan. On Sunday (June 28), President Trump tweeted thatĀ U.S. intelligence agencies found no 'credible' evidenceĀ and did not brief him about it.
"Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!"
The story wasĀ first reported by theĀ New York TimesĀ on Friday. The bounty program was revealed during interrogations with captured Afghan militants. On Sunday, a follow-up report from theĀ Washington PostĀ claimed thatĀ several U.S. soldiers were killed by Taliban troops seeking to claim the bounties.
Sixteen U.S. troops were killed in 2019, and so far, two soldiers have died in 2020 in Afghanistan. It is unclear if any of those were the result of a bounty, though some of the killings occurred when Afghan security forces attacked their U.S. allies.
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