Afghan VP, Saleh, refuses to surrender, insists on fighting Taliban

The Vice President of Afghanistan, Saleh, has refused to surrender after the Taliban took control of Kabul, overthrowing the government. The vice president declared that he will not surrender; he rather vowed to fight the Taliban.

The vice president, however, left Kabul and retreated to the  last remaining government stronghold, the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul.

The VP had written in English on Twitter last Sunday before leaving Kabul: “I won’t disappoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with the Taliban. NEVER.”

Pictures of the former vice president were circulated on social media on Monday with the son of his former mentor and notable anti-Taliban fighter, Ahmed Shah Massoud, in Panjshir, a mountainous redoubt tucked into the Hindu Kush.

It was gathered that Saleh and Massoud’s son, who command a militia force, are beginning to gather the first pieces of a guerilla movement to confront the Taliban. Anti-Taliban fighters were said to be regrouping in Panjshir.

A resident of the community was cited to have vowed: “We will not allow the Taliban to enter Panjshir and will resist with all our might and power, and fight them.”

The Afghan president had since Saturday flee Kabul, surrendering to Taliban.

Meanwhile, the Taliban regime has granted amnesty to politicians in the country.