Afghan First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself a "caretaker president" after Ashraf Ghani hastily left the country, has urged nations to "respect the rule of law, not violence" four days after the Taliban took control of Kabul.
Saleh has declared that Afghanistan is "too big for Taliban militants to govern" and "too big for Pakistan to swallow".
"Don't let your histories have a chapter on humiliation and bowing to terror groups," he added in a response to a tweet from former White House official Michael Johns, who supported Saleh's decision to "assume presidency" after the US armed forces' "abrupt and irrational withdrawal from Afghanistan".
US policy analyst Michael Johns, a former speechwriter for President George HW Bush, came out in support of Saleh in a tweet on Thursday. Johns slammed the Biden Administration for its "abrupt and irrational withdrawal from Afghanistan".
Saleh, who is a native of Panjshir Province, is believed to be building the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan against the Taliban.
Saleh received his military training from Pakistan and was the head of the National Directorate of Security in 2004, when Hamid Karzai was the President. He later served as the interior minister in Ashraf Ghani's regime and then became the country's First Vice President.
Saleh has been extremely critical of Pakistan's alleged role in the Afghan conflict and has blamed the neighbouring nation for fuelling the crisis.
Afghanistan plunged into uncertainty after the US President Joe Biden announced in April this year that thousands of US troops present in the country for the past 20 years would leave. Weeks before the withdrawal deadline, the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan forces.
The past two months have seen the Taliban seizing control of the parts of the country, eventually capturing Kabul on 15 August. The President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country after the Taliban takeover, disappearing for a couple of days before emerging in the UAE.