The commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan has accused Russia of trying to undermine the United States in the country by attempting to “publicly legitimize the Taliban.”
“The Russian involvement this year has become more difficult,” US Army General John Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
“This narrative that they promote is that the Taliban are fighting” Daesh (ISIL) and the Afghan government is not combating the terrorist group “and therefore there can be a spillover of this group into the region,” Nicholson added.
“This is a false narrative,” he said, claiming that US-trained Afghan forces, along with American troops, have reduced Daesh fighters in Afghanistan by half.
He said the Russian government recently invited the Taliban to Moscow for meetings about the country’s future but excluded representatives from the Afghan government.
The top military commander also said he needs a few…