Belgium's Defence Minister Philippe Goffin has claimed that the country's military intelligence service SGRS was in the know about alleged collusion between Russia and the Taliban*.
"The SGRS is aware of general Russian support for the Taliban in Afghanistan and confirms possible Russian interference", Goffin, who is also Belgian Foreign Minister, told parliament earlier this week.
He referred to "only one incident" that Goffin asserted "could be linked to the bounty programme, most notably the car-bomb attack on an American convoy in early April 2019", which killed three US soldiers. The SGRS has not commented on the matter yet.
At least 92 Belgian servicemen took part in NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan earlier this year, in what was later followed by the troops being recalled by Brussels due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. values the strong support provided by #Belgium to the @ResoluteSupport mission in #Afghanistan #WeAreNATO @BelgiumNATO https://t.co/FtYXq8t8US
— US Embassy Brussels (@usembbrussels) October 27, 2017
Resolute Support is a follow-up mission to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) completed on 28 December 2014. About 500 Belgian personnel took part in the ISAF, launched in 2001 and joined by Belgium in 2008.
US-Taliban Peace Talks
The collusion claims come amid a US push to pull out its forces from Afghanistan after talks with the Taliban. In February, the two sides signed a peace deal that concluded rounds of talks aimed at launching the reconciliation process in Afghanistan following almost two decades of armed conflict and insurgency.
In one of the latest developments, Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that intra-Afghan talks were closer than ever after Kabul and the Taliban carried out a significant exchange of prisoners.
Russia, who withdrew its troops from Afghanistan back in 1989 after a 10-year stint, has repeatedly signalled support for the US-Taliban peace talks.
Moscow Denies Collusion Allegations
As for the collusion allegations, they were rejected by Russia, as well as the Pentagon, the NSA and the Pentagon, which cited the lack of any evidence to support the claims.
Moscow's Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, for his part, stressed that the allegations are aimed at disrupting "normal, mutually respectful dialogue between Russia and the United States".
The Taliban also refuted the claims, noting that its actions are not related to foreign intelligence agencies or governments, and dubbing the allegations an attempt to obstruct the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
In June, The New York Times cited unnamed sources as saying that President Donald Trump had been presented with an intelligence report claiming that Russia could have paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to assassinate US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
POTUS denied the claims, describing "the Russia bounty story" as "just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party".
* The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries
