Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself caretaker president, believes that the peace negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban (banned in Russia) in Doha became "the beginning of the end" for the country, he told German newspaper Der Spiegel
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2021) Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself caretaker president, believes that the peace negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban (banned in Russia) in Doha became "the beginning of the end" for the country, he told German newspaper Der Spiegel.
According to the official, the intra-Afghan dialogue was flawed from the very beginning as the Taliban never believed in a political solution to the decades-long conflict. He said the United States and NATO should have left 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, but now that they did not they are paying the price.
"If they [the Taliban] opt for military solution it is their choice and we are ready for any eventuality. We are in the Hindukush [mountain region on Pakistan-Afghanistan border], but we stand for Afghanistan," Saleh wrote.
Saleh further called for the international recognition of the resistance pocket in Panjshir and for providing him with moral and political support.
Panjshir, located northeast of Kabul, remains the only Afghan province that has not fallen to the Taliban. On Thursday, Pakistani media reported that the Taliban and the Panjshir resistance forces signed a non-aggression pact.
