KABUL - Russia has poured scorn over the US allegation that it is arming the Afghan Taliban, rejecting the claim as baseless.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC last week, the Resolute Support Mission commander blamed Russia for its "destabilising activity".
Gen John Nicholson claimed Russian weapons were smuggled across the Tajikistan border to the Taliban. “We know that the Russians are involved.”
On Sunday, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kabul said such serious allegations should be backed up by irrefutable evidence.
“But US government representatives are constantly allowing themselves to publicly express idle gossip. Once again, we insist such statements are absolutely baseless,”
In a statement, the embassy asked US officials not to “talk nonsense”. The embassy said it was surprised by the content of the story based on Nicholson’s interview.
“In addition to unfounded accusations, the author of the article thought up a new lie, as absurd as all previous insinuations,” the statement added.
Russia also scorned the claim that it shared some intelligence data with the Taliban. It also rubbished the correspondent’s allegation that "the Russian Foreign Ministry has admitted Moscow shares intelligence with the Taliban".
Such propaganda tricks were designed for inattentive but suggestible audience and aimed at discrediting Russia's foreign policy and denigrating the country in the court of public opinion, according to the statement. (Pajhwok)