MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Former Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself the acting president after the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) seized control of the country, has excoriated the US saying that it bears overwhelming guilt for the collapse of the Afghan government.

"It’s very clear that the Taliban were never under pressure; they used Pakistan as their support base," he said in an interview with News18, an Indian English-language news channel. Saleh revealed that Washington attempted to "buy" Pakistani cooperation. "The more they paid, the more it emboldened the Pakistanis to provide more services and aid to the Taliban."

The second reason, in Saleh's opinion, is that the peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha "legitimized the Taliban who did not remain loyal to their word," and "fooled the entire international community."

Under the peace deal signed in February 2020 between the Trump administration and the Taliban, the radicals guaranteed not to use Afghan territory for actions that pose a threat to the security of the US and its allies.

US influence

The third reason, in Saleh’s opinion, is that the Afghan government had been under immense pressure from Washington for the last two years.

"They blackmailed us and said that either you release the prisoners or we will cut aid to you and decrease our military assistance. We said are you sure that these people won’t end up on the frontlines? They said no, but they all ended up on the frontlines," Saleh revealed.

He also pointed to the myopic attitude of some Afghan officials about the situation, adding that "there are various other issues which led to this tragedy."

Commenting on the security situation in the Panjshir Province, where he and Ahmad Massoud are leading an armed resistance campaign against the Taliban, Saleh called it ideal.

"It’s perfect. We are in control of the situation. I move around with minimum security," he said. "We will fight till the enemy believes that Afghanistan should remain Afghanistan and not become ‘Talibanistan’."

On August 15, Taliban (outlawed in Russia) militants swept into the capital city of Kabul without encountering any resistance and took complete control of the city in a matter of hours. President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani announced that he was stepping down in order to prevent bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. Then Vice-President Amrullah Saleh claimed that in the absence of the head of state, the constitution empowered him to become the acting president. He urged the Afghan public to continue fighting the Taliban. Meanwhile, Western states are in the process of evacuating their citizens and embassy employees from the war-torn country.