ISLAMABAD: Ruhullah Azizi, the older brother of former Afghanistan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, is said to have been “executed” by the Taliban in the quiet Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul.
Aamaj News, a Dari-language website, first reported the news of Azizi’s death in a Twitter post. He claimed that Saleh’s brother, a commander of the resistance force, was killed in the Rokha district of Panjshir. Citing a local source, the website reported that he was captured by the Taliban and shot dead on Thursday night. His death was later confirmed by his Panjshir nephew, according to the website.
Zahra Rahimi, an Afghan journalist, tweeted that Azizi was killed by the Taliban after being arrested by the group while trying to flee Panjshir. According to Reuters, Saleh’s nephew said Azizi had been executed.
After the fall of Kabul last month and the flight of former President Ashraf Ghani, Saleh headed to the Panjshir Valley, the only province the Taliban did not capture at the time, and was proclaimed interim president of Afghanistan according to the constitution. He had announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front, along with Ahmad Massoud, the son of Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud, and former defense minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
Saleh has been a powerful political figure in Afghanistan and has survived numerous assassination attempts. He is known as a outspoken critic of the Taliban and Pakistan. Last week he had rejected media reports that he had fled to Tajikistan and showed his presence in Panjshir in a video posted on Twitter.
Aamaj News, a Dari-language website, first reported the news of Azizi’s death in a Twitter post. He claimed that Saleh’s brother, a commander of the resistance force, was killed in the Rokha district of Panjshir. Citing a local source, the website reported that he was captured by the Taliban and shot dead on Thursday night. His death was later confirmed by his Panjshir nephew, according to the website.
Zahra Rahimi, an Afghan journalist, tweeted that Azizi was killed by the Taliban after being arrested by the group while trying to flee Panjshir. According to Reuters, Saleh’s nephew said Azizi had been executed.
After the fall of Kabul last month and the flight of former President Ashraf Ghani, Saleh headed to the Panjshir Valley, the only province the Taliban did not capture at the time, and was proclaimed interim president of Afghanistan according to the constitution. He had announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front, along with Ahmad Massoud, the son of Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud, and former defense minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.
Saleh has been a powerful political figure in Afghanistan and has survived numerous assassination attempts. He is known as a outspoken critic of the Taliban and Pakistan. Last week he had rejected media reports that he had fled to Tajikistan and showed his presence in Panjshir in a video posted on Twitter.