Repatriation funds run low as Filipino workers remain stranded abroad

Repatriation funds run low as Filipino workers remain stranded abroad

KABUL: The Taliban has denied US media reports claiming a Russian intelligence unit secretly rewarded them for targeting American troops in Afghanistan.

"We have heard these reports and they are false and baseless,“ Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement on Saturday.

He added that the group had "neither sought nor received any aid from any country or intelligence agency in 19 years of war.“

Mujahid said the Taliban lack advanced weaponry to carry out sophisticated attacks on US targets, which he said is proof they have not received foreign arms.

"We have used whatever resources we have had in Afghanistan, or prepared, for example, road and car bombs from explosives and materials available locally.“

He said the group has not targeted US forces since the two sides signed a peace deal in Doha in late February. In accordance with the agreement, US troops are set to leave Afghanistan by spring 2021.

Earlier on Saturday, the New York Times and two other American dailies reported that US intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan and targeting US troops.

Mujahid said that some circles in the US were disappointed by the