US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has commented on the debate over Russia's offer of rewards for killing US soldiers in Afghanistan, and for her part, a White House spokeswoman condemned the "rogue officers" who leaked this information to the New York Times.
Esber said that the United States takes all possible threats against its military seriously, whatever it is.
He explained - in a tweet on Twitter - that he currently does not have evidence to support the confirmation of allegations of malicious activities by Russian elements against his country's forces in Afghanistan.
He added - in a statement attached to his tweet - that he and all officials in the military chain of command are committed to providing the best intelligence, armament, and protective equipment for the forces in the field, as well as giving them the necessary powers to deal with any threat they may face.
The defense minister's comments come after a sharp debate in Washington about information indicating President Donald Trump's knowledge that Moscow has earmarked rewards for killing American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Earlier, the White House denied knowledge of these reports, but the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) issued a statement in which it confirmed that it informs the National Security Council and all relevant officials about the reports that relate to any threat to American soldiers.
The intelligence agency stated that it reports these reports to the concerned authorities in the initial stages, even if their evaluation requires verification and collecting more information.
Financial Transfers
In the same context, the New York Times quoted three US officials, whom they described as saying, that the United States intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by the Russian Military Intelligence Agency to an account linked to the Afghan Taliban.
The American newspaper said that this data was among the evidence that supported the conclusions that Russia secretly offered rewards for targeting US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The findings, the newspaper says, concluded that the remittances were part of a rewards program revealed by detainees during their interrogation.
The newspaper said that the investigators also identified the names of a number of Afghans associated with the Russian program, including a mediator responsible for distributing funds believed to be present in Russia.
Rogue officers For
its part, White House spokeswoman Kylie McNani said that "rogue elements" in intelligence leaked information about alleged Russian rewards for Taliban fighters in exchange for targeting US forces in Afghanistan. McNani warned that these leaks endanger the lives of American soldiers.
"These are rogue intelligence officers who endanger the lives of our soldiers. It is very likely that we will not be able to obtain a consensus on this information because of what was leaked to the New York Times," she said.
"Both the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency have pointed to the damage this leak is causing, not only to the safety of our forces, which is critical, but also to the ability of the United States to collect information from our allies," McNani added.