"I will never, ever and under no circumstances bow to d Talib terrorists. I will never betray d soul and legacy of my hero Ahmad Shah Masoud, the commander, the legend and the guide. I won't disappoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with the Taliban. NEVER," tweeted Saleh.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FVz5SNtMsQ



Afghanistan's defiant vice president made one thing clear as the Taliban seized control of the capital following the collapse of his government -- he will not surrender.

It appears he has retreated to the country's last remaining holdout: the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul.

"I won't dis-appoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with Taliban. NEVER," he wrote in English on Twitter on Sunday, before going underground.

A day later, pictures began to surface on social media of the former vice president with the son of his former mentor and famed anti-Taliban fighter Ahmed Shah Massoud in Panjshir -- a mountainous redoubt tucked into the Hindu Kush.

Saleh and Massoud's son, who commands a militia force, appear to be putting together the first pieces of a guerilla movement to take on the victorious Taliban, as fighters regroup in Panjshir.

- 'Resist with all our might' -

Famed for its natural defences, the valley never fell to the Taliban during the civil war of the 1990s, nor was it ever conquered by the Soviets a decade earlier.

"We will not allow the Taliban to enter Panjshir and will resist with all our might and power, and fight them," one resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Such a battle would be the latest in Saleh's long struggle against the Taliban as a onetime insurgent turned spy chief and later vice premier.

Orphaned at a young age, Saleh first fought alongside guerilla commander Massoud in the 1990s.

He went on to serve in his government before being chased out of Kabul when the Taliban captured it in 1996.

The hardliners then tortured his sister in their bid to hunt him down, Saleh has said.

"My view of the Taliban changed forever because of what happened in 1996," Saleh wrote in a Time magazine editorial last year.

- 'We will continue our fight' -

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Saleh -- then a part of the anti-Taliban resistance -- became a key asset for the CIA.

The relationship paved the way for him to lead the newly formed Afghanistan intelligence agency, the National Security Directorate (NDS), in 2004.

As NDS chief Saleh is believed to have amassed a vast network of informants and spies inside the insurgency and across the border in Pakistan, where Pashto-speaking agents kept track on Taliban leaders.

The intelligence Saleh gathered provided what he alleged was proof the Pakistani military continued to back the Taliban.

Saleh's rise, however has not been without its share of dramatic stumbles.

In 2010, he was sacked as Afghanistan's spy chief following a humiliating attack on a Kabul peace conference.

Exiled into the political wilderness, Saleh maintained his fight against the Taliban and Islamabad on Twitter, where he fired off daily tweets taking aim at his longtime foes.

A return to favour came in 2018 when he briefly oversaw the interior ministry after sealing an alliance with president Ashraf Ghani, who has now fled to an unknown location.

Saleh went on to become the former leader's vice premier.

His most recent political revival came as the US was preparing to exit Afghanistan and coincided with a series of assassination attempts on Saleh by the Taliban.

His latest close call came last September when a massive bomb targeting his convoy killed at least 10 people in Kabul.

Within hours of the attack, Saleh appeared in a video with his left hand bandaged, promising to fight back.

"We will continue our fight," he said.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210817-defiant-afghan-ex-vp-vows-new-fight-with-taliban

..Well done mr saleh. Real men always refuse to bow to evil.

You didn't fight all this years with US forces on your side. It is now that you are alone you want to fight.

Biden is a smart and courageous president, no use forcing people to accept what they don't want

ArcFresky:
Biden is a smart and courageous president, no use forcing people to accept what they don't want

You are right.

ArcFresky:
Biden is a smart and courageous president, no use forcing people to accept what they don't want

which Biden? You don't even have an idea of what is going on.

Unending war.

Pierocash:
You didn't fight all this years with US forces on your side. It is now that you are alone you want to fight.

He has been fighting Taliban at young age

Orphaned at a young age, Saleh first fought alongside guerilla commander Massoud in the 1990s.

dometome:
which Biden? You don't even have an idea of what is going on.

Tell us what is going on

OK

This is the man that should have been made president and not that other clueless uninspiring Ghani who with a a well armed Airforce and 300 thousand strong military could not stop a 75 thousand hungry talibans from taking the country

Islam!!!

dometome:
which Biden? You don't even have an idea of what is going on.

Don't mind that simp

ArcFresky:
Biden is a smart and courageous president, no use forcing people to accept what they don't want

Wooo... a dumb black i diot spotted...

Tweeting inside a hole

Amnesty awaits him and other recalcitrant members of the government

Better share the country

Well done Mr Saleh you're true hero

Never Give Up

htdot:

Wooo... a dumb black i diot spotted...

Glad you çan recognise yourself in the mirror

I expected USA to fully equipped this guy and other Taliban foes. Don't go down without a fight. The humiliation is too much to bear for USA

Pierocash:
You didn't fight all this years with US forces on your side. It is now that you are alone you want to fight.

I'll

okeyglm:
I expected USA to fully equipped this guy and other Taliban foes. Don't go down without a fight. The humiliation is too much to bear for USA

Which humiliation?

htdot:

Wooo... a dumb black i diot spotted...

Good you recognize yourself in the mirror