Afghan Contractor Handed Out Russian Cash to Kill Americans, Officials Say

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Source: New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — He was a lowly drug smuggler, neighbors and relatives say, then ventured into contracting, seeking a slice of the billions of dollars the U.S.-led coalition was funneling into construction projects in Afghanistan.

But he really began to show off his wealth in recent years, after establishing a base in Russia, though how he earned those riches remained mysterious. On his regular trips home to northern Afghanistan, he drove the latest model cars, protected by bodyguards, and his house was recently upgraded to a four-story villa.

Now Rahmatullah Azizi stands as a central piece of a puzzle rocking Washington, named in American intelligence reports and confirmed by Afghan officials as a key middleman who for years handed out money from a Russian military intelligence unit to reward Taliban-linked fighters for targeting American troops in Afghanistan, according to American and Afghan officials.

As security agencies connected the dots of the bounty scheme and narrowed in on him, they carried out sweeping raids to arrest dozens of his relatives and associates about six months ago, but discovered that Mr. Azizi had sneaked out of Afghanistan and was likely back in Russia. What they did find in one of his homes, in Kabul, was about half a million dollars in cash.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/world/asia/afghan-russia-bounty-middleman.html

[sakabatou]

1. And Trump will call this fake as well

The bastard.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Hey! Trump has his priorities, don'cha know?

Hey! Trump has his priorities, don'cha know?

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick and recommend for visibility

[blue neen]

3. You have to wonder if Trump was getting a cut of the money.

It certainly is a possibility, the way he operates.

[lagomorph777]

10. He always gets a cut, right after Putin's cut.

[sandensea]

4. "...but discovered that Mr. Azizi had sneaked out of Afghanistan and was likely back in Russia..."

Try Orange County, California!

[catbyte]

8. Yeah, where IS Dana Rohrabacher these days?

[sandensea]

9. Zing!

Living off his hard earned rubles, no doubt.

[louzke9]

6. So This Guy.....

sneaks back to Russia six months ago? Did someone share classified intel with Putin? Something smells ROTTEN here!

[Cha]

7. KR!

[dalton99a]

11. "$100,000 per killed soldier"

U.S. intelligence reports named Mr. Azizi as a key middleman between the G.R.U. and militants linked to the Taliban who carried out the attacks. He was among those who collected the cash in Russia, which intelligence files described as multiple payments of “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Those files were among the materials provided to Congress this week.

Through a layered and complex Hawala system — an informal way to transfer money — he delivered it to Afghanistan for the missions, the files say. The transfers were often sliced into smaller amounts that routed through several regional countries before arriving in Afghanistan, associates of the arrested businessmen said.

Afghan officials said prizes of as much as $100,000 per killed soldier were offered for American and coalition targets.

Just how the money was dispersed to militants carrying out attacks for the Taliban, and at what level the coordination occurred, remains unclear. But officials say the network had grown increasingly ambitious and was in communication with more senior levels in Taliban military ranks to discuss potential targets.