FACT BRIEF

Have US authorities found conclusive evidence to back up reports about alleged bounties on US troops in Afghanistan?

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

By Gus Fisher

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The Pentagon has “low to moderate confidence” in allegations that the Russian military offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, according to an April 2021 White House briefing.

The New York Times first reported the story in June 2020. The allegations received widespread attention from other media. The Trump White House said they were unverified and lacked “consensus” within the intelligence community.

President Biden’s White House is still not confident in these claims, as they are based on interrogations of Afghan detainees in “the challenging operating environment in Afghanistan.” Speculation about the bounties reached a high point last year, after reports that the U.S. Navy recovered $500,000 from a raided Taliban outpost, leading the Pentagon to believe that the money was supplied by the Russian military to kill U.S. troops.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

White House Biden administration background press call on Russia: ‘low to moderate confidence’ in reports

AP News White House denies Trump briefed about US troop bounties

AP News Intel on Russian ‘bounties’ on US troops shaky

AP News AP sources: White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019

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