Amrullah Saleh, who claims to be acting president of Afghanistan per the country's constitution, has stated that the Taliban were behind the Aug. 26 suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which killed 13 US servicemen and over 100 Afghans.
“Every evidence we have shows that [ISIS-K terrorist] cells have their roots in Talibs [Taliban] & Haqqani network, particularly those operating in Kabul,” Saleh tweeted a day after the horrific blast.
“We knew the Taliban wanted to end the airport disaster with a series of bombings two or three days ago,” he told Euronews on Aug. 26. “They spread the rumor that ISIL was planning bombings. “Today's [Thursday's] bombing was carried out by the Taliban,” he claimed.
The US hasn't ruled out the idea that the Taliban was engaged in the attack, with Pentagon spokesman John Kirby noting on Aug. 27 that US officials were unsure if the Taliban were involved.
On Aug. 26, the terrorist group ISIS-K or ISIS-Khorasan, an ISIS affiliate, claimed responsibility for the attack, boasting that its suicide bomber was able to "pierce all the security fortifications" put in place by US forces and the Taliban.
ISIS-K is said to be made up largely of disgruntled Taliban members who have been drawn to an even more extremist interpretation of Islam that emphasizes global jihad rather than local jihad. They are claimed to be Taliban foes, but their numbers have grown since the Taliban released detainees around the nation.
According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the attacks are still under investigation by the Taliban.
Kabul is not the story of Afghanistan as a whole.
Meanwhile, in the Panjshir Valley, Saleh has met with many top officials from the deposed Ghani government to form a resistance campaign against the Taliban.
“Unfortunately, the entire media is focused around the tarmac in Kabul airport, yes, I understand that,” Saleh told Australia's national network ABC.
Saleh told CNN-News18 in India that the Doha peace talks, to which the government and the anti-Taliban United Front (Northern Alliance), which represents nearly 60% of Afghans, were not invited, were a failure that "legitimized the Taliban," adding that the Taliban "did not remain loyal to their words, they did not honor their commitment, and they fooled the entire international community."
Saleh declared himself de facto president of Afghanistan on Aug. 17, invoking the constitution, after previous President Ashraf Ghani departed the nation, leaving the Taliban in control of Kabul on Aug. 15.
To seize his position as the "legitimate caretaker president," Saleh stated he was "reaching out to all leaders to secure their support and consensus."
Under former President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government, Saleh was the head of the Afghan intelligence service.
According to News18, the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan has acknowledged Saleh as the caretaker president.
Promises that were not kept
The Trump administration inked an agreement with the Taliban in February of last year, outlining a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops in May, conditioned on the Taliban fulfilling peace obligations, including not harboring Al Qaeda militants.
But, according to Saleh, the Taliban has now breached numerous critical commitments, including appointing Haji Mohammad Idris as the governor of Afghanistan's central bank, even though he was "a money launderer who was facilitating transactions between Al Qaeda sympathizers and the Taliban."
He further stated that on August 19, Khalil Al-Rahman Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani terrorist network who has a $5 million bounty on his head for his ties to Al Qaeda activities, was placed under the charge of security in Kabul. The Haqqani network is a branch within the Taliban movement with close ties to Al Qaeda and a reputation for suicide bombings.
According to Voice of America, Ivor Roberts, a senior consultant at the Counter Extremism Project, the decision is similar to putting a "fox in charge of a chicken coop."
"This is a shame and betrayal," Saleh continued, "and I don't want to be a part of that shame and betrayal." We shall battle until the adversary understands and agrees that Afghanistan should be Afghanistan, not Talibanistan.
“The bottom line is that NATO has left, as has the US military, but the Afghan people have not... They were unable to be evacuated. The airport in Kabul is just the tip of the iceberg. Terrorist groups have gained control of Afghanistan, and the country has descended into tragedy.”
After remaining in Kabul to discuss a peaceful handover of power with the Taliban, Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, an ethnic Tajik politician and the government's chief peace envoy are in negotiations with the Taliban's de facto commander, 53-year-old Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban.
The Taliban isn't anticipated to make any announcements about its government plans until August 31, when Vice President Joe Biden suggested US soldiers should leave Afghanistan.
In an op-ed in The New York Times, Baradar wrote, "We are aware of the concerns and questions in and outside Afghanistan about the kind of government we would have after the foreign troops withdraw." “My response to such concerns is that it will be contingent on Afghans reaching a consensus. We should not let our concerns get in the way of a true discussion and debating process, free of foreign dominance and intervention for the first time.”
Congress's Support
Conservative voices in the US Congress have expressed support for Saleh's resistance movement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) issued a joint statement calling on the Biden Administration to acknowledge Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh and representatives of Ahmad Massoud as genuine government representatives of Afghanistan. “We request that the Biden Administration recognize that the Afghan Constitution remains intact and that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is illegal.”
Waltz, a combat-decorated Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, was described by Saleh as a voice of "sanity" for Congress on the Afghan situation.
Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, has stated that he prefers discussions with the Taliban than war in the hopes of building a broad-based government. He has stated, however, that he will not give up his protected Panjshir Valley territory.
Ahmad Massoud is the son of legendary mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, often known as the "Lion of Panjshir," whose soldiers fought the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban after they took control in 1996. Al Qaeda executed the older Massoud in a suicide bombing just two days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, and intelligence believes the two acts are likely linked.
Massoud claimed his resistance warriors, which include remnants of the Afghan army and special forces as well as civilian militia fighters, "wish to defend, fight, and resist against any totalitarian regime," referring to a hypothetical Taliban regime.
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post on Aug. 18, he begged for tangible support from the Biden administration and other democratic friends for an upcoming battle with the Taliban.
“We understand that our military forces and logistics will be insufficient. They will quickly diminish unless our Western allies can find a means to quickly resupply us,” he wrote.
“The US and its allies are no longer on the battlefield, but America can still be a 'great arsenal of democracy.'”
On August 23, Taliban spokesman Mujahid tweeted that Saleh and Massoud's resistance troops were "under siege in Panjshir," adding that the group was "trying to solve the problem through talks."
According to the Wall Street Journal, Taliban fighters have gathered at the Panjshir Valley's access point as their leaders press the resistance movement to join a new government, threatening a military assault if talks fail.
“The issue is that they are adamant about not making any concessions. And we refuse to accept any form of a political system that isn't inclusive,” Ali Nazary, the resistance movement's head of foreign affairs, told the Wall Street Journal.
According to multiple accounts, the Taliban have blocked internet and telecom lines to the valley, with resistance supporters pleading with the US to supply internet access and secure communications equipment.
According to Saleh, the Taliban have "neither external nor internal legitimacy" and would soon face a "deep military crisis" when other anti-Taliban militias not currently stationed in Panjshir join the war.
“The Taliban's law is Islamic Emirate, which is unacceptable to the Afghan people, and the election of a leader by a group is also unacceptable. The Taliban will not be able to dominate Afghanistan for long.”
