Taliban bribes

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Italian intelligence forces allegedly bribed militants in Afghanistan to keep a region of the country safe, The Times of London reported Thursday.

The alleged bribes kept militant activity in an area east of Kabul down but when French soldiers took over patrolling the area last year -- and the payoffs stopped -- attacks stepped up and 10 French soldiers were killed in one incident. They had entered an area relatively lightly armed because, subsequent investigations indicated, they believed the area "benign."

The Times said the French hadn't been informed of the payoff scheme.

Officials in the current Italian government, headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said the current leadership didn't authorize bribes to militants and blamed the previous government. A statement pointed out that the Italians had come under "numerous" attacks, with one Italian officer killed in action in February 2008.

The Times based its allegations on "a number of high-ranking officers in NATO," who said the Italians made payments to militants in more than one area of Afghanistan.

A NATO source told the newspaper: "The Italian intelligence service made the payments, it wasn't the Italian army. It was payments of tens of thousands of dollars regularly to individual insurgent commanders. It was to stop Italian casualties that would cause political difficulties at home."