{"id":1990,"date":"2017-02-13T21:45:05","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T21:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taand.com\/en\/?p=1990"},"modified":"2017-02-13T21:45:05","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T21:45:05","slug":"why-is-russia-helping-anti-u-s-insurgents-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=1990","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Russia Helping Anti-U.S. Insurgents In Afghanistan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Report: NPR<\/a><\/p>\n

Russia is supporting anti-U.S. insurgents in Afghanistan \u2014 and through them, terrorists, top U.S. national security leaders say.<\/p>\n

What isn’t clear is why.<\/p>\n

The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, stopped short of detailing everything the U.S. knows about the Russian return to Afghanistan in an appearance before a Senate panel last week. But he did confirm some lawmakers’ accounts of what U.S. intelligence has established about the relationship.<\/p>\n

“If Russia is cozying up to the Taliban \u2014 and that’s a kind word \u2014 if they are giving equipment that we have some evidence that the Taliban is getting … and other things that we can’t mention in this unclassified setting? And the Taliban is also associated with al-Qaida? Therefore Russia indirectly is helping al-Qaida in Afghanistan,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.<\/p>\n

“Your logic is absolutely sound, sir,” Nicholson said.<\/p>\n

Terrorist groups use the Afghan Taliban insurgency as a “medium” in which to operate, Nicholson said, as al-Qaida did before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.<\/p>\n

The disclosures about Russia’s operations in Afghanistan, which Nicholson said are increasing after they resumed last year, could complicate any effort by President Trump to work more closely with Moscow on fighting terrorism.<\/p>\n

Trump has said he wants Washington and Moscow to do more against the Islamic State in Syria \u2013 a goal that already was problematic because Moscow mostly has not been targeting ISIS there. Still, Trump ordered his national security team to present him with a new plan to defeat ISIS, one that could include options for closer cooperation with Moscow, as soon as next week.<\/p>\n