U.S. intel community walks back claim Russia put bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, report

U.S. intelligence had "low to moderate" confidence that Russia put bounties on U.S. troops last year.
U.S. and Afghan troops battle Taliban in Kunar Province
By Nicholas Sherman

The U.S intelligence community is walking back claims that Russia put bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, according to news report Thursday.

In June 2020, The New York Times published a story alleging that a Russian military intelligence unit had secretly offered to pay bounties to Afghani mercenaries to kill American soldiers.

On Thursday, an unnamed Biden administration official said that there was "low to moderate" confidence in the story's validity, according to The Daily Beast.

"The United States intelligence community assesses with low to moderate confidence that Russian intelligence officers sought to encourage Taliban attacks U.S. and coalition personnel in Afghanistan in 2019 and perhaps earlier," a senior official reportedly told reporters.

However, the official said Biden will not fully walk back the story.