KABUL: The Taliban on Saturday rejected a newspaper report claiming their fighters had received rewards from Moscow's spies to kill US troops in Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported Friday that bounties offered by a notorious arm of Russia's military intelligence service gave incentives to Taliban fighters to target US forces, just as US President Donald Trump tries to withdraw troops and end America's longest war.

"The nineteen-year jihad of the Islamic Emirate is not indebted to the beneficence of any intelligence organ or foreign country," the Taliban said in a statement issued in Kabul.

The group also denied previous US accusations it was given arms by Russia.

"The Islamic Emirate has made use of weapons, facilities and tools ... that were already present in Afghanistan or are war spoils frequently seized from the opposition in battles."

The Taliban said home-made explosives accounted for most of the casualties among US forces.