Bounties Volume 79, No. 50B ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY placed EDITION SUNDAY on, JUNE 28, 2020coalition stripes.com troopsFree to Deployed Areas Russian operation targeted US, British forces in Afghanistan, intelligence finds BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA, MISSY RYAN, The Russian operation, first reported ers learned of reported bounties in recent geting Americans, if confirmed, is likely to JOHN HUDSON AND SHANE HARRIS by the New York Times, has generated an months from U.S. intelligence agencies, lead to outrage on Capitol Hill and ques- The Washington Post intense debate within the Trump adminis- prompting a series of internal discussions tions about why the administration has not tration about how best to respond to a trou- including a large interagency meeting that responded to it. A Russian military spy unit offered bling new tactic by a nation that most U.S. was held in late March. According to one Spokesmen for the National Security bounties to Taliban-linked militants to officials regard as a potential foe but that person familiar with the matter, the re- Council, the Pentagon, and the CIA de- attack coalition forces in Afghanistan, in- President Donald Trump has frequently sponses discussed at that meeting included clined to comment. cluding U.S. and British troops, in a strik- embraced as a friend, said the officials, sending a diplomatic communication to It was not immediately clear whether ing escalation of the Kremlin’s hostility who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relay disapproval and authorizing new the militants approached by Russia as part toward the United States, American intel- discuss a sensitive intelligence matter. sanctions. ligence has found. The officials said administration lead- Russian involvement in operations tar- SEE BOUNTIES ON PAGE 4 VIRUS OUTBREAK Afghan security forces hit hard by coronavirus BY SUSANNAH GEORGE, AZIZ TASSAL AND SHARIF HASSAN The Washington Post KABUL, Afghanistan — The corona- virus is sweeping through Afghanistan’s security forces, according to senior Af- ghan security officials from four provinces who report suspected infection rates of 60 to 90% among their units — reducing the number of forces available to conduct op- erations or take up duty at outposts. Few have died, the officials say, but little to no testing capacity has forced many into weeks of isolation, leaving deployable forc- es stretched thin at a time when the country is under pressure from both increased Tal- iban violence and from the United States, where officials are eager to see the govern- ment and militants begin direct talks. Afghanistan has extremely low coronavi- rus testing rates: Less than 0.2% of its pop- ulation — 64,900 people out of an estimated 37.6 million Afghans — have been tested. SEE SECURITY ON PAGE 4 Afghan National Army Commandos stand in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 28. Senior Afghan security officials have reported suspected coronavirus infection rates of 60 to 90% among their units. JEFFERY J. HARRIS/U.S. Army Reserve MIDEAST MILITARY MUSIC Iraq arrests IG: US dining facility Haim’s latest album may militants for didn’t charge foreign be band’s most revealing base attacks troops for meals yet – but it’s no downer Page 3 Page 3 Page 12 League-worst Red Wings losers in chaotic NHL Draft lottery » Back page PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, June 28, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER Stocks sink as virus forces states to backtrack EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)........................... 0.9486 Euro costs (June 29) .............................$1.10 Thailand (Baht) .....................................30.93 Dollar buys (June 29) ........................ € 0.868 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.8564 Associated Press again. their economies on hold because British pound (June 29) ...................... $ 1.21 (Military exchange rates are those The S&P 500 dropped 2.4%, of a resurgence of the virus. Japanese yen (June 29) .....................104.00 available to customers at military banking Stocks on Wall Street fell sharp- South Korean won (June 29) ..........1168.00 facilities in the country of issuance giving up all of its gains after a “That certainly calls into ques- Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the ly Friday as confirmed new coro- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3776 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For navirus infections in the U.S. hit rally the day before. The sell-off tion how vigorous this recovery British pound .....................................$1.2357 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., capped a choppy week of trad- will be,” said Bill Northey, senior Canada (Dollar) .................................. 1.3695 purchasing British pounds in Germany), an all-time high, prompting Texas China (Yuan) ....................................... 7.0784 check with your local military banking and Florida to reverse course on ing that erased the benchmark investment director at U.S. Bank Denmark (Krone) ................................6.6509 facility. Commercial rates are interbank index’s gains for the month. Wealth Management. Egypt (Pound) ....................................16.1594 rates provided for reference when buying the reopening of businesses. Euro ........................................ $1.1207/0.8923 currency. All figures are foreign currencies The combination injected new The surge in the number of The S&P 500 fell 74.71 points to Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7504 to one dollar, except for the British pound, Hungary (Forint) ................................. 317.46 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, jitters into a market that’s been confirmed new coronavirus cases 3,009.05. The Dow Jones Indus- and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Israel (Shekel) .................................... 3.4311 mostly riding high since April prompted Texas and Florida to trial Average had its worst day in Japan (Yen) ........................................... 107.16 on hopes that the economy will reverse course and clamp down two weeks, losing 730.05 points, Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3078 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.7090 recover from a deep recession as on bars again. The two states join or 2.8%, to 25,015.55. The Nasdaq, Philippines (Peso).................................50.00 Prime rate ................................................3.25 businesses open doors and Amer- a small but growing list of those which hit an all-time high earlier Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.99 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) .......................... 3.7511 Federal funds market rate ...................0.08 icans begin to feel more confident that are either backtracking or this week, dropped 259.78 points, Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3932 3-month bill ............................................. 0.14 that they can leave their homes putting any further reopenings of or 2.6%, to 9,757.22. South Korea (Won) ...........................1201.50 30-year bond ...........................................1.42 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 70/59 Kabul 86/64 Seoul 83/70 Baghdad 111/80 Kandahar 108/74 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 82/69 81/68 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 68/52 77/57 75/71 Iwakuni 81/72 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 102/88 Brussels 83/61 Guam 112/88 69/53 Ramstein 81/73 84/78 Lajes, 73/54 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 112/82 109/87 75/65 76/59 86/65 Aviano/ Vicenza 85/67 Naples 94/78 Okinawa Morón 90/81 98/65 Sigonella Rota 91/69 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 104/90 83/68 83/67 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 17 Books ....................... 14 Comics/Crossword ...... 15 Movies ...................... 11 Music ....................12-13 Opinion ..................... 18 Sports .................. 20-24 Sunday, June 28, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 WAR ON TERRORISM Iraq arrests men in rocket attacks on military bases Associated Press include the Interior Ministry and other Iraqi security forces to fol- BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces arrested over a dozen men low up on the case. suspected of a spate of rocket at- It was unclear who was holding tacks against the U.S. presence the men, with one Iraqi official Resolute Support in Iraq, the Iraqi military said saying it was the Popular Mobili- Resolute Support service members and civilians wait for lunch at a dining facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday — the strongest action to zation Forces, an umbrella group on April 10. date by the new government in of paramilitary groups, while an- Baghdad against perpetrators other said they were being held suspected of ties to Iran. by the Interior Ministry. The arrests marked a bold move “It looks like Mustafa al-Kad- IG: NATO coalition troops got free by the government to crack down himi is continuing to try and put on groups that have long been a actions to words,” said Renad source of tension for U.S.-Iraq re- Mansour, a senior research fel- meals because of billing mix-up lations. Two senior Iraqi officials, low at Chatham House. speaking on condition of anonym- Officials and experts speculat- BY PHILLIP WELLMAN meaning the DOD was short by services, develops training spe- ity in line with regulations, said ed whether the move was part of a Stars and Stripes more