US intelligence officers involved in drug trade, claims Russian envoy

(Karachi) Russian President’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs Zamir Kabulov has accused the US intelligence officers of their involvement in drug trade. He denied reports claiming Russian intelligence officers paid Taliban-linked militants to kill Western forces in Afghanistan, including US troops.

Responding to accusations by the US, he stated: "Those wonderful US intelligence officers, who accuse us of different things, are involved in drug trafficking."

He added, "Their planes from Kandahar, from Bagram are flying wherever they want to - to Germany, to Romania - without any inspections. Every citizen of Kabul will tell you that, everyone is ready to talk about that."

Kabulov said, "No wonder, such is their business. Any Afghan citizen, anyone, in Kabul could tell you about it. It's an open secret and everyone is sick and tired of it and dismisses it as a given."

Earlier, a report published in The New York Times stated that a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan, including American troops.

The report claimed that President Donald Trump and the White House National Security Council (NSC) gathered in late March to discuss the matter and weighed several responses, including a diplomatic complaint to Moscow demanding an end to the practice and escalating a series of sanctions.

However, Moscow denied the accusations and blamed the Trump administration of hatching conspiracy against it.