Doha peace talks marked 'beginning of the end' for Afghanistan: Amrullah Saleh

The peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, according to former Afghan government first vice president Amrullah Saleh, have become "the beginning of the end" for the country. According to Saleh, the US and NATO should have kept 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. "But now they are paying the price," he added, according to Sputnik, citing German tabloid Der Spiegel.

"The intra-Afghan dialogue was flawed from the very beginning as the Taliban never believed in a political solution to the decades-long conflict," Saleh said.

Saleh also appealed for worldwide recognition of the Panjshir resistance pocket as well as moral and political help. For a long time, fighters in Panjshir have deterred Taliban terrorists from capturing the territory by firing a heavy machine gun into a deep valley from the steep mountain's summit.  These fighters are from the National Resistance Front (NRF), which is the strongest group left after the Taliban's siege of Kabul.  The valley is located 90 miles north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush mountains. After steamrolling through pro-government troops in a few months, the Taliban have been unable to seize this major stronghold of resistance.

Taliban to form 'inclusive caretaker govt' in Afghanistan

Meanwhile, a Taliban member has stated that the group has decided to build an "inclusive" caretaker government in Afghanistan.  In mid-August, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. The caretaker administration would be created by Taliban commanders and leaders from all Afghan ethnicities and tribal backgrounds, according to a member of the Taliban shura (consultation committee). A dozen names are currently being considered for appointment as new government officials.

Appointments to the ministries of justice, internal security, defence, foreign affairs, finance, information, and a special assignment for Kabul's affairs will be made sooner in the new administration, Taliban member said. He went on to say that the Taliban's co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is in Kabul and that the Taliban's Chief of Army, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, has left Kandahar for Kabul to begin talks on building a government.

(with inputs from ANI)

Picture Credit: Facebook/AmrullahSaleh/AP