Caretaker president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, has slammed the Joe Biden administration in an article published on Daily Mail. In the article, he reasserted the commitment of the resistance forces in Afghanistan to combat the Taliban takeover of the country. At the same time, he expressed disappointment at the manner in which western countries have conducted themselves.
Amrullah Saleh said, “The scenes at Kabul airport in recent days represented the humiliation of humanity, an embarrassment for any nation that has been involved in Afghanistan since the Taliban were routed by the US-led Coalition Force in the aftermath of the 9/11 atrocity. The Americans may boast about evacuating some 123,000 people from the country (of whom 6000 were Americans), but there are 40 million of us.”
“Now, with the closure of the airport in Kabul, the Afghan exodus is continuing at the other border crossings and it is worse than it was during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s. This is not only shameful for President Biden, it is shameful for the whole of Western civilisation,” he added.
Saleh also said that politicians in western countries know that Al Qaeda terrorists are back in Kabul under the Taliban regime and they know that Taliban has not reformed. He pointed out the fact the Jihadist paraded its suicide vests in the Afghan capital.
“But there’s still time for the West to save its reputation and credibility. Biden was determined to end America’s ‘longest war’ and would no longer countenance keeping even a few thousand soldiers in my country to support our own Afghan forces – despite our enormous sacrifices and the advice of his own generals,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh blames lack of air support for fall of Kabul
Amrullah Saleh also called upon the West, in addition to moral and material support where possible, “also to use this opportunity to press for a political settlement with the Taliban, a settlement that has the backing of the Afghan people and the international community.”
The caretaker president of Afghanistan also said that the lack of air support from the USA accelerated the fall of Kabul. “Whenever our troops confronted a concentration of the Taliban, the Americans would cite the Doha Agreement – negotiated with the Taliban – to say they could not strike them except in very limited circumstances.”
‘We are going to Panjshir and the road is already taken,’ Saleh told his chief guard Rahim. ‘We will fight our way through. We will fight it together. But should I get injured, I have one request of you. Shoot me twice in my head. I don’t want to surrender to the Taliban. Ever.’
Caretaker president of Afghanistan says Taliban took over Afghanistan with help from Pakistan
Saleh also said that it is Pakistan which is in power in Afghanistan and the Taliban have not won “any hearts and minds”. “The Taliban’s spokesperson receives directions, literally every hour, from the Pakistani embassy. It is the Pakistanis who are in charge as effectively a colonial power. But this is not going to last because they and their clients will not be able to erect a functioning economy or create a civil service,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh had earlier clarified that he is still in Panjshir after rumours were afloat that he has fled to Tajikistan amidst the Taliban onslaught. “There are some media reports being circulated around that I have fled my country. This is absolutely baseless. This is my voice, I am calling you from the Panjshir valley, from my base. I am with our commanders and our political leaders,” he said.
He added, “We are managing the situation. Of course, it’s a difficult situation, We are under the invasion of the Taliban and Pakistanis and Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We have held the ground, we have not lost territory.”
