AMSTERDAM (REUTERS) - The Dutch intelligence agency AIVD spied on the Russian group believed to be behind the hack of the Democratic Party ahead of US elections, local media reported on Thursday (Jan 25).

Current affairs programme Nieuwsuur and newspaper de Volkskrant based the story on several anonymous intelligence sources in the Netherlands and the United States.

The Moscow-based group known as Cozy Bear is widely suspected of hacking the Democratic Party and is believed to be linked to the Russian government.

Agents with the AIVD gained access to the group's headquarters and between 2014 and 2017 passed along information to the US Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, the report said.

The Dutch intelligence may have contributed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election race, the report said.

The FBI and the AIVD were not immediately available for comment.