Afghanistan’s acting president-in-exile Amrullah Saleh, who spoke to News18 exclusively from an undisclosed location, said they are determined to “fight the Taliban to take their areas back". This is Saleh’s first-ever interview in almost two years to any media publication around the world.
“We will get our areas back…We are countering Taliban internally and externally. They will lose… The Taliban is a proxy and malicious force. We will fight till they agree to a process for establishment of a legitimate system in Afghanistan," said Saleh.
In August 2021, the United States and its NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan, as per the Doha agreement, after almost two decades of war with the Taliban, paving the way for the resurgent Islamist group. The agreement signed in Qatar sought to address four major issues – withdrawal of American and other foreign troops from the country, reducing the level of violence, initiating a national peace dialogue, and ensuring that the country would never again become a safe haven for international terrorists.
As President Ashraf Ghani fled after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Saleh declared himself the acting president of the country and is leading the fight against the Taliban.
“The Western narrative that they didn’t abandon Afghanistan, but only corrupt politicians, is completely wrong and self-serving. There was a geopolitical scheme…They negotiated with the Taliban for almost 10 years to agree on the terms of exit and they were expecting us to agree to the Taliban in five days to rubberstamp the Doha agreement in which there is hardly any mention of Afghan people and their rights," said Saleh.
NOT REALLY AIDING?
According to Saleh, those opposing the Taliban are facing a couple of challenges that are beyond their capabilities. “One is the 60-million-dollar per week aid from the United States to the Taliban, which is giving it maneuverability to use national revenue for consolidation of repressive conduct" he said.
The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State, is providing nearly $327 million in additional humanitarian assistance to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“The US aid is auctioned in Afghanistan. People with direct link to the Haqqanis – an Afghan Islamist insurgent group built around the family of the same name — are able to buy it…The NGOs, too, deliver services to areas identified by Taliban. So the aid money basically helps the Taliban," he explained.
The TALIBAN OPPOSITION’s FOCUS
According to Saleh, the opposition is looking at three main areas:
- Knowing the Taliban: Saleh feels that knowing who the Taliban are post August 2021 was important to say no to them. “The total number of casualties in direct combat with the Taliban over two years is 1,000 men. Around 5,000 of our sympathizers and supporters are in detention of Taliban. They have saturated areas of our activities with their militias," said Saleh.
- Internal and external fight: According to Saleh, there is a lot of funding coming in to keep them divided. “We are operating from an environment that is not willing to let us unite… The Ankara-based alliance is less willing to engage with Taliban militarily," he said.
- Multiple voices: Saleh said some believe in gradual softening of the Taliban. “They want to sell the Doha agreement to allies. Some won’t return to Afghanistan without a process or referendum to determine the type of the state. Then there are us who say this dispensation is illegitimate," he said.
THE ISI FACTOR
According to Saleh, the region was initially fooled by Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence (ISI).
“Pakistanis did a diplomatic initiative asking the region to give the Taliban six months for Af-Pak negotiations. Qataris started another campaign… The second Taliban is in no way less associated with the ISI than the first," Saleh warned.
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