Taliban Obtains New Weaponry Funded By Russian Government, Says Report

Earlier today, videos have been retrieved that show Taliban activists have been provided with new weaponry by the Russian government. The supply of weapons to the Islamic group in Afghanistan has invigorated allegations by the American and Afghan officials on Moscow for funding a country that is already on the brink of internal destruction.

There had also been accusations for weaponry supply to the war-torn Islamic country in April when U.S. generals first noted their concerns regarding the Russian government’s involvement in Afghanistan’s territory. However, the reports back then were merely images from the battlefield and were unable to truly confirm the activity.

According to CNN, exclusive videos have recently been retrieved that caught several weapons such as heavy machine guns, Kalashnikovs, and sniper rifles. Further reports by the agency noted Taliban activists present in the north and west region in two groups with the weapons that are likely to be supplied by the Russian government.

On asking about the origin of their weapons, the Taliban activists responded by affirming that the weapons were provided to them for free across the Tajikistan border by the Russians. Another update broadcasted that a Herat-based Taliban group had won the weapons after destroying a rival group.

Videos obtained by CNN suggest the Russian government may be arming the Taliban in Afghanistan https://t.co/1Q9oUilrIe

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 25, 2017

It is to be noted that the exclusive videos showing Taliban activists with Russian weapons do not confirm the actual trading of weapons, and Moscow has unconditionally denied its involvement with the Islamic group. However, concerns of how these weapons got into the hands of the activists are bothering the American and Afghan governments. Afghan government official Sediq Sediqi is left befuddled just like other spokesmen about the intentions of the Russian government in this matter.

“The Russians have said that they maintain contact with the Taliban, we have lots of other reports from other people they are arming the Taliban… there is no smoke without fire. That’s why our intelligence agencies are up to the job to find out what level of support that is to the Taliban.”

Claims of such a trade happening between Russia and the Taliban have been confirmed verbally by another Afghan official. To deny such a claim, the Russian Foreign Ministry has declined to comment for the official CNN article on this matter. The Ministry has also stated that it is all a part of a propaganda to shadow America’s failure in Afghanistan. They also confirmed that all they have discussed with the Taliban activists is about promoting peace, not war.

The U.S. has been known to talk about this issue for quite some time, suggesting that the Taliban group has been backed up by the Russians for quite some time and that they are not looking forward to denying this fact. When U.S. Gen. John Nicholson was asked about whether he contradicts the statement of alleged weapon supplies to the Taliban by the Russian government, he was not willing to back out.

[Featured Image by U.S. Army Maj. James D. Crawford/Getty Images]