Multiple people who knew the subject told Post that it was not clear how many US soldiers could have been killed due to the awards.
CNN previously reported According to a European intelligence official, the military intelligence agency has offered money to GRU as a reward for Russian intelligence officers if they recently killed US or British troops in the Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The official told CNN that Russian incentives led to Coalition losses in assessments, which would result in deaths or injuries of service members. The official did not specify the date, number or nationality of the victims, or whether they were fatal or injured.
A discussion was held in the US intelligence community and among top military commanders about the operation of evaluating Russian intelligence and what exactly happened. CNN said Sunday. The source also said there are some efforts to protect US forces due to intelligence.
New York Times first reported On Friday, US intelligence concluded months ago that the Russian military intelligence offered blessing in peace talks. According to the New York Times newspaper, President Donald Trump was informed about the intelligence findings, and according to the New York Times newspaper, the White House National Security Council held a meeting on this issue.
“Intel has informed me that they do not find this information reliable and therefore do not report it to me or @ VP.” Tweeted on Sunday evening.
However, National Security Council spokesperson John L. Ullyot, Times said on Sunday night“The basic claims continue to evaluate the accuracy.”
Earlier Sunday, the President tweeted that there was “not too much attack” on US troops by Taliban fighters, as evidence that the reported intelligence could be “fake”.
The tweet went a step further than Saturday’s statement from the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not deny the validity of the report, instead saying Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were not informed about the “alleged Russian reward intelligence”.
The Russian Embassy in Washington DC condemned the Times report on Friday as “baseless claims” that threatened death against Russian diplomats in Washington and London. The Taliban also rejected the report.
Since the beginning of America’s longest war in 2001, more than 2,400 deaths of US service members have taken place. It was the deadliest for the US in Afghanistan in five years last year, and 23 service members were killed in the country in 2019.
This story has been updated with additional background and a tweet from the President.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, Barbara Starr, Veronica Stracqualursi, Devan Cole and Radina Gigova contributed to this report.
