Amrullah Saleh lauds protests in favour of Afghanistan flag; warns Pakistan of humiliation

Leading the resistance against the Taliban, ex-Afghanistan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Thursday expressed his support for people hoisting the national flag. Since the terror outfit captured Kabul on August 15, it has started removing the Afghanistan national flag from key buildings and replacing it with its own flag. However, this has met with protests in several cities including Jalalabad and Khost. A day earlier, at least 3 persons were killed and another 12 injured after Taliban terrorists purportedly opened fire at a crowd in Jalalabad for hoisting their national flag in place of the terror outfit's flag.

In a fresh statement issued on Twitter, Saleh stated, "I express my respect, support and appreciation for the courageous and patriotic movement of the honorable people of my country in different places for raising the national flag against the Taliban proxy group. A number were honorably martyred in this way. Salute those who carry the national flag and thus stand for the dignity of the nation and the country". 

He also took a swipe at Pakistan for its blatant interference in the region. In the past, he has not only accused Pakistan of providing a safe haven to the Taliban but also alleged that its special forces from Peshawar and Quetta are directing the terror outfit. Stressing that the neighbouring nation will never be able to control Afghanistan, he advised it against bowing to the whims and fancies of terrorist organizations. 

Resistance against the Taliban

Amrullah Saleh, Ahmad Massoud and other fighters are holed up in the Panjshir province which is yet to fall into the hands of the Taliban. While Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country after the Taliban stormed into Kabul, Saleh stayed put and vowed to resist the new regime. Republic TV has learnt that the training of the commandos to fight the Taliban has begun in the higher reaches of Panjshir valley. Already, the ex-First Vice President declared himself to be the caretaker President and revealed that he is reaching out to other leaders to secure their support and form a consensus.

Meanwhile, Massoud wrote an Op-Ed in The Washington Post requesting the Western nations to supply arms and ammunition to strengthen the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan's fight against the terror outfit. He added, "If Taliban warlords launch an assault, they will of course face staunch resistance from us. The flag of the National Resistance Front will fly over every position that they attempt to take, as the National United Front flag flew 20 years ago. Yet we know that our military forces and logistics will not be sufficient. They will be rapidly depleted unless our friends in the West can find a way to supply us without delay".