Leader in last Afghan holdout against Taliban praises protesters

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Rebecca Falconer
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Ousted Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who's helping lead resistance in the last holdout against the Taliban in Afghanistan's northeast, on Thursday praised protesters who raised the national flag in defiance of the new government.

Driving the news: Saleh, who's declared himself Afghanistan's "legitimate caretaker president," in a tweet expressed his "support and appreciation for the courageous and patriotic movement of the honorable" protesters — who were shot at by the Taliban in at least three cities Wednesday.

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  • At least two people died in Jalalabad due to the Taliban's violent dispersal of the protesters.

The big picture: Saleh said on Tuesday that he's Afghanistan's caretake president due to toppled Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's fleeding to the United Arab Emirates.

  • He's part of an opposition group in the Panjshir Valleym north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush, with "a corps of loyal fighters" that is resisting the Taliban, the New York Times notes.

  • People in the region resisted Russian fighters in the 1980s and also the Taliban in the 1990s.

Of note: Saleh is allied with regional leader Ahmad Massoud, whose father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was the top anti-Taliban commander until he was killed days before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., per the NYT.

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