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Saleh recounts developments leading to Kabul’s fall, says Pak running show

WION Web Team
Kabul Updated: Jun 16, 2022, 05:56 PM IST
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Former Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh (file photo). Photograph:(AFP)

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Leading the resistance movement in Panjshir against Taliban, former Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh has shared the detailed account of what happened in the days leading to the fall of Kabul. Writing the whole account for Daily Mail, the former vice president wrote, the fall of Afghanistan is not only shameful for US President Joe Biden, but also the whole of Western civilisation because everybody knows that Pakistan is running the show  

Leading the resistance movement in Panjshir against Taliban, former Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh has shared the detailed account of what happened in the days leading to the fall of Kabul.  

Writing the whole account for Daily Mail, the former vice president wrote, the fall of Afghanistan is not only shameful for US President Joe Biden, but also the whole of Western civilisation because everybody knows that Pakistan is running the show.  

Saleh wrote that his security guard has been sworn to shoot him twice in the head in case he gets injured as he will never surrender to the Taliban.  

Watch: Heavy fighting in Panjshir valley- An hour from Kabul

The Saleh’s account has come amid the Taliban claims of having captured Panjshir province. Till now, Panjshir was the only Taliban-free province of the country.  

There have been several reports of Panjshir residents fleeing their homes and moving to other Taliban-ruled provinces to flee the violence going on in the valley.  

Reiterating about the claim of strong Pakistan support to the Taliban, the former vice president wrote the Taliban were receiving instructions from the Pakistan embassy.  

"The betrayal of Afghanistan by the West is colossal...Your politicians know that Pakistan is running the show. They know al Qaeda is back in the streets of Kabul. And they know the Taliban have not reformed. They have been displaying their suicide vests in Kabul," he wrote.  

On the day Kabul fell, Amrullah Saleh woke up to numerous calls from family and friends. Saleh says his efforts to reach the minister of defence and the interior minister and their deputies failed as they were not reachable. Kabul’s police chief informed him, he could hold the front for an hour.   

Saleh wrote, "But in that one desperate hour, I was unable to find deployable Afghan troops anywhere in the city. I messaged our National Security Adviser to say we have to do something. I got no response from anyone. And by 9am that morning of August 15, Kabul was panicking."  

When the Taliban firmed hold on Kabul, Saleh messaged Ahmad Massoud, who was in the city only. "I then went through my home and destroyed pictures of my wife and my daughters. I collected my computer and some belongings," Saleh wrote.  

Saleh says he refused to be one of those politicians, who betray people and then drop a post on social media from posh hotels abroad to encourage people to fight back. "They stay in these hotels and villas abroad. And then they call on the poorest Afghans to revolt. That's craven. If we want a revolt, the revolt has to be led," he wrote.