Truth, Inspiration, Hope.

Taliban Murders Brother of Afghanistan’s Constitutional President

Neil Campbell
Neil lives in Canada and writes about society and politics.
Published: September 13, 2021
In this photograph taken on September 6, 2021 a burnt down Humvee is seen along a road in Dashtak, Panjshir Province after the Taliban claimed total control over Afghanistan. Reports have confirmed the Taliban executed Rohullah Azizi, brother of Afghanistan’s 2004 Constitutional President and National Resistance Front member, Amrullah Saleh.
In this photograph taken on September 6, 2021 a burnt down Humvee is seen along a road in Dashtak, Panjshir Province after the Taliban claimed total control over Afghanistan. Reports have confirmed the Taliban executed Rohullah Azizi, brother of Afghanistan’s 2004 Constitutional President and National Resistance Front member, Amrullah Saleh. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the Taliban Islamic extremist terrorist group have executed the brother of the man who has declared himself the rightful President of Afghanistan under the country’s 2004 Constitution. 

The news was reported by Reuters in a Sept. 10 article where Ebadullah Saleh, son of Amrullah Saleh, told the outlet via text that the Taliban had executed his uncle Rohullah Azizi.

“They killed him yesterday and would not let us bury him. They kept saying his body should rot,” said Ebadullah. 

The news was corroborated by Reuters through a news report in the Taliban’s Urdu-language propaganda outlet Alemarah that said Rohullah was killed fighting in Panjshir. 

Amrullah Saleh was formerly Vice President of Pakistan, serving under Ashraf Ghani, a President who suddenly defected to the United Arab Emirates, leading to the fateful takeover of the country on Aug. 15. Ghani had informed U.S. President Joe Biden the country was under a full-scale Taliban assault with Pakistani support in July. 

Saleh, who did not flee the country, declared himself Afghanistan’s rightful President on Aug. 17. Saleh has also said that not only is ISIS-K, the organization which took responsibility for the Kabul Airport suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. soldiers, merely an arm of the Taliban, and not only that Washington ordered Ghani’s administration to release of thousands of ISIS-K members, but that the plot to bomb the Airport was known for days in advance.

On Sept. 3, Saleh gave an interview with CNN’s News18 where he said he and the National Resistance Front were in Panjshir, declaring the Taliban’s claim to have taken the valley “absolutely baseless.”

“We are managing the situation. Of course, it’s a difficult situation. We are under the invasion of the Taliban and Pakistanis and Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We have held the ground, we have not lost territory.”

Sept. 3 was also the last time Saleh’s Twitter account made a post, “Resistance is the nom de guerre of everyone here. RESISTANCE,” he said.

According to News18, the Taliban had “cut off telephone and internet services in the area to stop internal communication” in Panjshir to silence Saleh and the NRF, “The Taliban wants to stop former Vice President Amrullah Salleh from creating any form of awareness against the militant group or talk about a nexus between the Taliban and Haqqani network in the devastating Kabul airport blast that took place Thursday.”

The article continued, “The sources had revealed that the Taliban feel Amrullah’s knowledge may supersede intelligence information as he was in the government, adding that the group also believes attacking Panjshir would be easier in the lack of communication in the valley.”

On Sept. 10, English language reports on Twitter emerged showing the Taliban had begun circulating a propaganda photo showing a member sitting in the same library where Saleh published his last video statement to the world. 

Saleh has said the Taliban is a proxy for Pakistan, while the Haqqani Network, another militant extremist terrorism organization, which has roots in Pakistan, has openly admitted it is one and the same as the Taliban.

The connection to Pakistan is significant because the country is a signatory to the Chinese Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure and debt trap project. Last week, U.S. News cited an anonymous source that said the CCP is looking to put its roots down in Bagram Airfield, a strategic point abandoned by the U.S. military on July 1. 

Director of the China program at the Stimson Center, Yun Sun, told the outlet China was likely to utilize Pakistan to deploy units and supplies to Bagram if the Taliban were to request support.

The Taliban has said it is eager to join the CCP’s BRI project, calling China its “most important partner.”