A US general said on Tuesday that he was not convinced any Russian bounties resulted in the deaths of US troops in Afghanistan, but he acknowledged his concerns about Russian intentions towards his forces.
US officials said they acquired intelligence suggesting that Russia may have paid bounties to Taliban-affiliated militants to kill US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, but stressed that the intelligence was not conclusive.
The Pentagon said it had "no corroborating evidence" to validate the allegations, which Moscow denied.
Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, made the US military's caution clear in the most extensive remarks to date about the issue from a defence official.
"I'm a theatre commander and I found it [the intelligence] very worrisome. I just didn't find that there was a causative link there," Gen McKenzie told reporters, according to a transcript released by Central Command.
Pressed on whether he believed Russian payments led to deaths, Gen McKenzie said: "No, I'm not convinced of that. I'm just not."
He said that battlefield intelligence was often inconclusive.
"But in this case, there just wasn't enough," Gen
McKenzie said.
"I sent the intelligence guys back to continue to dig on it. And I believe they're continuing to dig right now."
The Washington Post reported that bounties were believed to have led to the deaths of several services members in Afghanistan. The New York Times said investigators focused on two attacks, including an April 2019 bombing outside an air base that killed three marines.
US President Donald Trump, a Republican who has worked to cultivate warmer relations with Moscow, downplayed the significance of the intelligence and denied being briefed on the matter before it was reported by news outlets last month.
The US military suspected Russia of providing support, including weapons, to elements of the Taliban. Gen McKenzie said that the Russians were "not our friends in Afghanistan and they do not wish us well".
He said that whether the Russians were paying them or not, the Taliban "have done their level best to carry out operations against us".
"So nothing has practically changed on the ground in terms of force protection, because we have a very high force protection standard now," he said.
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Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
