Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S.

general confirms - The Washington Post

Checkpoint

Russia is
sending
weapons to
Taliban, top
U.S. general
confirms
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff April 24 

In Afghanistan, Mattis sees 'another tough year' ahead

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/...p/2017/04/24/russia-is-sending-weapons-to-taliban-top-u-s-general-confirms/?utm_term=.d311016b08f4[6/25/2017 9:25:50 AM]

Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S. general confirms - The Washington Post

 Play Video 0:56

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he sees 2017 as "another tough year for the valiant
Afghan security forces and the international troops."
(Reuters)

KABUL
— The general in charge of U.S. forces in Afghanistan appeared
to
confirm Monday that Russia is sending weapons to the Taliban, an
intervention that will probably further complicate the 15-year-old war
here and the Kremlin’s relations with the United States.

When
asked by reporters, Gen. John Nicholson did not dispute claims
that the
Taliban is receiving weapons and other supplies from the
Russians.

“We
continue to get reports of this assistance,” Nicholson said, speaking
to reporters alongside Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. “We support
anyone who wants to help us advance the reconciliation process, but
anyone who arms belligerents who perpetuate attacks like the one we
saw two days ago in Mazar-e Sharif is not the best way forward to a
peaceful reconciliation.”

[While the U.S. wasn’t looking, Russia and Iran began carving out a
bigger role in Afghanistan]

A
senior U.S. military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
to discuss intelligence on the issue, said the Russians have increased
their supply of equipment and small arms to the Taliban over the past 18
months. The official said the Russians have been sending weapons,
including medium and heavy machine guns, to the Taliban under the
guise that the materiel would be used to fight the Islamic State in
eastern Afghanistan. Instead, the official said, the weapons were
showing up in some of Afghanistan’s southern provinces, including
Helmand and Kandahar — both areas with little Islamic State presence.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/...p/2017/04/24/russia-is-sending-weapons-to-taliban-top-u-s-general-confirms/?utm_term=.d311016b08f4[6/25/2017 9:25:50 AM]

Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S. general confirms - The Washington Post

“Any
weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a
violation
of international law unless they were coming to the
government of Afghanistan,” Mattis said, speaking during his first visit
to Afghanistan as defense secretary. He added that it would have to be
dealt with as such.

In the past, Nicholson has criticized Russia’s contact with the Taliban,
saying that it has given “legitimacy” to a group that has undermined the
elected government in Kabul.

In the 1980s, Russia fought its own war in Afghanistan, losing

thousands of troops to insurgents supplied with advanced U.S.
weaponry, such as shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. In March,
when the commander of U.S. forces in Europe, Army Gen. Curtis
Scaparrotti, told lawmakers that Russia was providing support to the
Taliban, the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as “a
lie” and said the charge was being promulgated to disguise Washington’s
policy failures in Afghanistan.

Deadly Taliban attack hits Afghan military base

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Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S. general confirms - The Washington Post

 Play Video 1:02

Soldiers at an Afghan military base were targeted as they ate dinner and left a mosque
follow prayers on April 21.
(Reuters)

Mattis
and Nicholson’s remarks come just days after the Taliban pulled
off the single deadliest attack against Afghan security forces since the
beginning of the war.

[U.S. defense chief arrives in Kabul as his Afghan counterpart resigns

in disgrace]

On
Friday, roughly a dozen militants infiltrated a sprawling Afghan base
near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Using suicide bomb vests and
small arms, the militants — disguised as Afghan soldiers — wreaked
havoc at the installation and, according to some reports, killed
at least
140 Afghans and wounded 60.

The
six-hour assault began as Afghan soldiers were leaving their weekly
prayers or ambling to the base’s dining facility. The Taliban fighters
were eventually killed by a response force led by Afghan commandos.
Nicholson praised the elite but overworked unit’s actions for bringing
the “atrocity to an end.”

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It
is unclear how the attack will affect Afghan forces’ recruitment efforts,
already strained by high casualties and low retention rates among the
ranks. The Taliban has pledged that the attack is just the beginning of its
annual spring offensive. However, since U.S. combat troops mostly
withdrew in 2014, the pace of Taliban attacks has remained
consistent
across the country year-round.

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Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S. general confirms - The Washington Post

There are 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan split between two roles. One
contingent helps advise the Afghan security forces while the other
carries out unilateral
and partnered counterterrorism operations against
groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. In addition to the U.S.
troops, roughly 5,000 NATO troops are in Afghanistan, split among
various areas of responsibility.

Nicholson
and the chief of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. Joseph
Votel, have agreed that roughly 3,000 additional troops are needed to
help prop up the Afghan security forces and break what top U.S. officials
have called
a “stalemate” in the country. At the height of the war, more
than 100,000 U.S. troops were in the country.

Mattis said Monday that he is still deciding whether to ask President

Trump to send more troops.

Read more:

At least 140 dead after Taliban attack on a key Afghan army base,
officials say

Some in Afghanistan question U.S. choice to use 22,000-pound bomb

against ISIS

 109 Comments     

Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a staff writer and a former Marine infantryman.

 Follow @Tmgneff

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Russia is sending weapons to Taliban, top U.S. general confirms - The Washington Post

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