The Taliban believes that claims of its collusion with Russia were made up by intelligence services in Kabul and are aimed at derailing the Afghan peace process, Suhail Shaheen, an official representative of the movement’s political bureau in Qatar, said on Monday.

“We continue our own investigation based on the information in the media. these accusations are false, they are groundless and were launched by an intelligence agency in Kabul to derail and postpone the peace process as well as the formation of a new government,” Shaheen said.

The New York Times reported in June that some units of Russian military intelligence allegedly incentivized the Taliban to attack international coalition troops in Afghanistan.

Russian presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov and the Foreign Ministry described the reports as a lie. The White House and the Pentagon said that there did not appear to be any proof for the claims made in the article.

Source: Sputnik