UPDATE ON AUG 18, 12:17 PM IST
Former Vice President Amrullah Saleh has issued an audio statement and declared himself the 'legitimate caretaker president' of the country amid the ongoing crisis after the Taliban occupation in Afghanistan.
Kabul: President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani has fled the country and the whole country including Rashtrapati Bhavan was captured by the Taliban. However, the Taliban has not yet appointed its representative, who will take over the power of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Amrullah Saleh, the former Vice President of Afghanistan, has declared himself a 'legitimate caretaker president'.Amrullah Saleh released audio statement In an audio statement, Amrullah Saleh said, "According to the Constitution of Afghanistan, if the President is absent, runs away, resigns or becomes unable to perform his duties, the First Vice President shall automatically Only the legitimate Acting President becomes.Since Ashraf Ghani fled the country, he effectively gave up his responsibilities and the post of President is vacant, so I am currently the legitimate President looking after Afghanistan, as I am inside the country. I am reaching out to all the leaders of Afghanistan.
War is not over yet: Amarullah Saleh Amrullah Saleh further said, 'I want to make it clear that there are many factors for this situation, but I am not ready to be a part of the humiliation that was faced by foreign forces. I stand for and for my country and the war is not over.
Saleh has been a target of Taliban Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself the legitimate caretaker president of the Taliban, was the Vice President of Afghanistan. He took over as the Vice President in February 2020. He previously served as Afghanistan's Minister of Internal Affairs in 2018 and 2019, and as the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) from 2004 to 2010. In 1990, Saleh joined the opposition Mujahideen forces to avoid enlisting in the Soviet-backed Afghan army. He took military training in neighboring Pakistan and fought under Mujahideen commander Ahmed Shah Masood. In the late 1990s, he became a member of the Northern Alliance and also fought against the expansion of the Taliban.In an article written in Time magazine last year, he said that after what happened in 1996, my view of the Taliban changed forever. He had told that the fundamentalists had tortured his sister to catch him.