Afghan Vice President Saleh Declares Himself Caretaker President; Reaches Out To Leaders for Support

Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh said on Twitter on Tuesday he is in Afghanistan and is the “legitimate caretaker president".Saleh had said after a security meeting chaired by then President Ashraf Ghani last week that he was proud of the armed forces and the government would do all it could to strengthen resistance to the Taliban.Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who left the country on Sunday, said he left Kabul to avoid bloodshed and a “big human disaster" in the city of six million people, urging the Taliban to reveal their intentions and reassure the people who are unsure about their future after the insurgents took over the war-torn country.

Ghani in his first comments after he left Afghanistan said on Sunday he was faced with a “hard choice" between the “armed Taliban" who wanted to enter the Presidential Palace or “leaving the dear country that I dedicated my life to protecting the past 20 years".“If there were still countless countrymen martyred and they would face the destruction and destruction of Kabul city, the result would have been a big human disaster in this six million city. The Taliban have made it to remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out," Ghani said in a Facebook post on Sunday.