Iran Paid Bounties to Taliban to Target US Troops According to US Intelligence

According to US Intelligence agencies, Iran had offered bounties to Taliban fighters so they can target US troops and coalition troops in Afghanistan. The payments that are linked to six attacks were carried out by the Taliban in 2019, including a suicide bombing at a US airbase back in December.

Bounties on US troops

CNN reported that bounties were paid by Iran to the Haggani network, a terrorist group that is led by the second-highest-ranking leader of the Taliban, for their attack on the Bagram Air Base back in December 2019. The attack killed two civilians and injured 70 others, including 4 American personnel.

According to a Pentagon briefing document, the name of the foreign government that made the payments are classified but two sources that are familiar with the intelligence confirmed to CNN that it was Iran who paid the terrorist group.

The United States killed an Iranian general in Iraq a month after the Bagram attack, but after a long process involving numerous agencies to create options aimed at countering Iran's support for militant groups in Afghanistan. The decision was made in March 2020 not to take any action as officials did not want to jeopardize the peace process with the Taliban.

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The revelation about the bounties on US troops follows the recent controversy over Russian bounties for attacks on American troops, an issue that has not been thoroughly discussed by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Russia has denied the allegation.

Trump administration's desire to protect the peace talks with the Taliban came after their lack of condemnation of Iran or the Taliban and the decision to not pursue a military or diplomatic response, as reported by The Guardian.

The agreement was signed in February 2020 and it is helping President Trump fulfill his campaign promise of removing American troops in Afghanistan.

Worried officials

The attack at Bagram, which is known as the most prominent US military installation in Afghanistan, rattled officials who are working on Afghanistan issues because it showed the vulnerabilities of some of the American compounds.

Pentagon briefing documents showed that a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices or SVBIED were also used in the attack. Around 10 Taliban fighters engaged in a firefight with local security forces after the incident and were killed by US airstrikes.

Days after the attack, the sentiments factored the assessments done by US intelligence officials from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Counterterrorism Center.

US intelligence officials acknowledge that the Haggani Network would not really require payment in exchange for targeting the US troops, the Pentagon document showed that the funding linked to the Bagram attack last year was incentivized, as reported by Business Insider.

Iran has been known to use proxies for conducting attacks throughout the country but in the months after the bombing at Bagram, US officials across different agencies were also tasked with investigating Tehran's relationship with the Haggani Network in Afghanistan and developing specific response options.

However, despite all of these, it still poses a great threat to US interests. The National Security Council officials recommended in March that the Trump administration should not take any specific steps toward addressing the Iran-Haggani Network issue as it may have a negative impact on the peace efforts.