Bounties for dead US soldiers Putin paid Taliban bounties in the millions
New revelations show how Russia's GRU lured Taliban with bounties for attacks on US soldiers between 2016 and 2020. A budget estimated at 30 million dollars funded the covert operation.
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- Research by a Russian investigative portal shows that Moscow paid money to the Taliban.
- The Russian secret service GRU is said to have paid Taliban fighters an average of 200,000 dollars between 2016 and 2020 for killing US and coalition troops.
- The GRU used a company from the gemstone trade as a cover for the money flows.
- The strategy is reminiscent of the CIA operation in the 1980s, but on a smaller scale aimed at decisively weakening the enemy through indirect attacks.
Investigative research by the Russian portal "The Insider" has painted a shocking picture of Russia's covert operations in Afghanistan. According to the report, the Russian military intelligence service GRU offered Taliban fighters high rewards for killing US and coalition troops. An average of 200,000 dollars was paid per victim.
The research, entitled "How Russian military intelligence used the Taliban to decimate US troops at the end of America's longest war", reveals in detail how the GRU organized its bounty program. Between 2016 and early 2020, Russian agents offered the Taliban money for targeted attacks on US soldiers and their allies.
One Afghan fighter even published pictures of two bundles of dollar bills after a killing - each bundle contained around 100,000 dollars. In total, Russia paid out an estimated 30 million dollars through this network, according to a former Afghan security officer.
Payments and cover
In addition to payments for US soldiers, there were also smaller rewards for attacks on Afghan forces. According to the investigation, at least 500,000 to 600,000 dollars were paid for an attack that left 23 Afghan soldiers dead.
To conceal the payments, the GRU used a gemstone trading company as a cover. Afghan couriers delivered the money to Taliban fighters and other militant groups. As a reward, they received Russian documents and asylum.
Notorious GRU unit 29155 involved
The programme was part of the GRU's covert strategy to destabilize the enemy by indirect means. The notorious GRU unit 29155, which is also associated with assassinations and poisonings in Western countries, was responsible.
The revelations of "The Insider" are based on conversations with former 29155 agents and security sources in Russia and Afghanistan. The research reconstructs not only the money flows, but also the travel movements of the couriers and their connection to known attacks on US and coalition troops.
Parallels to the CIA operation in the 1980s
The GRU's covert operation is reminiscent of the CIA's Operation Zyklon in the 1980s. Back then, the CIA supported the mujahideen with three to four billion dollars to fight the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
The difference: the GRU program operated on a much smaller scale - but the objective was similar: to massively weaken the enemy through proxy attacks.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
