Trump has been informed that China is seeking to pay non-state actors to attack US forces in Afghanistan

The official said the intelligence, which the Trump administration will release classified, was provided to the president in his daily memo on December 17. The official said his National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien discussed the information with the president on the same day.

The information of this alleged intelligence is not yet confirmed. The scenario is reminiscent of reports earlier this year that Russia offered Afghan fighters rewards for killing US forces in Afghanistan. This information also appeared in President’s intelligence briefing Although it was later revealed that the information may have gone unnoticed for weeks.

Trump has yet to summon Russia publicly on the issue.

While it is unclear whether President-elect Joe Biden had access to the intelligence, he has had access to the same intelligence since receiving the President’s Daily Brief.

A Biden transitional official told CNN that while they would not speak to the alleged intelligence reports, nor the motive behind “releasing what is said to be unconfirmed information, the” president-elect “has no greater concern about the safety of serving our members” and will hold accountable anyone offering Americans At risk.

“Our teams will seek to know as much as possible about these allegations from the outgoing administration, and this is further evidence of why we need full cooperation, including from the Ministry of Defense,” the official added, referring to the controversial transition process. Controversial. Between incoming Biden and outgoing Trump defense officials.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN reported in June A European intelligence official said that Russian intelligence officers at the Russian Military Intelligence Agency recently offered money to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan as rewards if they killed US or British forces there. The official told CNN that the incentives provided by the Russians led, in their estimation, to losses on the coalition’s ranks, which would be the death or injury of members. The official did not specify when the victims were killed, their number, their nationality, or whether they were killed or injured.
A US official familiar with the matter She confirmed to CNN At the time there was intelligence indicating the transfer of funds, but it is not clear how the intelligence in question was verified or exactly whom representatives of this Russian unit – the senior commanders or commanders of field units in the coalition forces – approached.
CIA had ended months before the Russian military intelligence offered the rewards, amid peace talks, Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings and the White House National Security Council held a meeting on the topic in late March, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. The New York TimesCiting officials familiar with the matter.
After the news broke in June, Trump He denied receiving a briefing About intelligence. He wrote on Twitter that “there were not many attacks” on US forces by Taliban fighters as evidence that the intelligence could be “bogus” – a step further than an earlier White House statement in which Press Secretary Kylie McNani did not. He denied the report was authentic, but said instead that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had not been briefed on “alleged Russian intelligence information.”
There has been discussion since February and March in the US intelligence community and among senior military commanders about the Russian operation to assess intelligence and what exactly was happening, an American official said. To CNN in June. The source said that there are some efforts to protect US forces because of the intelligence.

News of China offering funds for attacks on US forces comes as China awaits whether Biden will adopt Trump’s more punitive policies toward the nation or move to restore ties between Washington and Beijing.

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Diplomacy under the Obama and Biden administrations was mostly directed at attempts to cooperate with China, rather than confrontation. But there is evidence that Biden’s views have changed in recent years in line with the changing mood in Washington, as Beijing is increasingly seen not as a potential partner for America, but as its primary competitor.

The Biden campaign website criticizes technology companies “facilitating repression in China,” and has promised foreign policy “to pressure China – the world’s largest carbon exporter – to stop subsidizing coal exports and to outsource their pollution to other countries.”

“To win the competition for the future against China or anyone else, we must sharpen our innovative edge and unify the economic strength of democracies around the world to counter abusive economic practices,” the report said.

A Biden campaign advertisement in June accused Trump of “playing” China. During the Democratic primary in February, Biden referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as “the thug,” and said Beijing should “abide by the rules.”

This story has been updated with additional background information.

Ben Westcott, Paul LeBlanc, Nick Patton Walsh, Veronica Stracowallorsi, Radina Gigova, Barbara Starr, Devan Cole, and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report.

Sacha Woodward

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