Once again, Amrullah Saleh averted the death. Spurred Sunday, July 28, by an attack in its offices in Kabul, the candidate for the Afghan vice president has escaped almost unscathed, only touched by a shine in the arm. The former intelligence chief, known for his extremely hostile positions with the Taliban, was able to be evacuated in time by his security service.
Aged 46, Amrullah Saleh, president Ashraf Ghani's mistress, has escaped many assassination attempts during his career. Like cats, "Saleh would have 9 lives", even like to tell some in Afghan power circles. Living under a permanent threat, the candidate for the vice-presidency does not hesitate to speak freely in the media. "I am a very very legitimate target," he said in an interview in 2009 on American television. "And if ever they [Taliban] kill me, I told my family and my friends not to complain because I killed a lot, and with pride".
A commitment in the Afghan resistance
Evidence that the anguish of death never leaves him, Amrullah Saleh told the New York Times have written his will, a week before the attack that hit his offices on Sunday in central Kabul. Difficult not to see in the life of this militant of the first hour, the reflection of the crises crossed by Afghanistan of recent years. A Tajik originally from Panshir in the north of the country, the only province the Taliban has ever controlled, Saleh has been fighting them all his life.
He was only about 20 years old when he joined the ranks of the Mujahideen resistance led by the commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panshir". Gradually, he rose through the ranks and, in 1997, managed the Northern Alliance links, better known as the Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, with the foreign intelligence services.
But his career took a turn in 2004, when President Hamid Karzai appointed him chief of intelligence services. From then on, Westerners consider him one of their most loyal allies in the Afghan power. Showing himself close to the CIA, he resigns in 2010, when President Karzai calls the Taliban "brothers" with whom he is trying to launch negotiations. That same year, the former intelligence chief founded the Afghanistan Green Trend, and mobilized thousands of compatriots opposed to any alliance with the Taliban. His fame consolidated, he returned to power, as Interior Minister in 2018, once Ashraf Ghani elected head of the country.
Opposed to Trump's policy
Recognized analyst, Saleh has since been regularly invited to speak on issues of security policy, in international conferences. "He is perhaps the only Afghan politician I know who is an avid reader - the depth of his analysis is impeccable, I have not seen any leader of his generation so wise and creative," said journalist Bilal Sarwary. Afghan. "His policy, though emotional at times, is intelligent and consistent, Amrullah Saleh has never changed his position on the Taliban, he can sometimes be terribly stubborn, but there is no doubt about it. makes him patriotic and courageous ".
Recently, the former minister expressed his opposition to Donald Trump's policy of withdrawing the 14,000 US troops deployed on Afghan soil, in exchange for a Taliban commitment not to let terrorist groups use Afghan territory as an operational basis. Hostily at these talks, Saleh ensured that an agreement reached without justice, or disarmament process, would not help stabilize the country.
Phoenix symbol
Traumatized by decades of conflict, Afghans want to stop the bloodshed in their country. While most agree that negotiations with Islamists are necessary, some - particularly among non-Pashtun minority ethnic groups - fear that a precipitous withdrawal of US troops will expose them to new threats from the Taliban.
For the time being, the international community is waiting for the presidential election scheduled for September 28, after several postponements. If Ashraf Ghani and his vice president insist that the government needs a democratic legitimacy to negotiate with the Taliban, the latter, fiercely opposed to the election, consider the central power of Kabul as a "puppet" from Washington.
Faced with uncertainty and repeated threats against him, Amrullah Saleh holds his line, saying he wants to "defend the dignity" of Afghanistan. A country whose fate he compares to that of a phoenix rising from the ashes. A metaphor certainly worn out, but that seems particularly appropriate to define this indefatigable activist whose next battle will be now in the polls.
Article adapted by Marie Campistron ( original version ).