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Ashraf Ghani left Kabul to prevent 'bloodshed', took $169 million in cash with him
According to the Xinhua, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani claimed on Wednesday night that he "was forced to leave Kabul and decided to leave my country in order to prevent bloodshed."
The Xinhua reported that Ghani made the statement, addressing his compatriots in their native language Pashto, during a live Facebook broadcast from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Ghani said, "If I had stayed, I would be witnessing bloodshed in Kabul."
He also issued a rebuttal against his critics who said he left Afghanistan hastily, saying that "those who think that I fled should not judge if they don't know all the details."
The Xinhua added, Ghani has been bitterly criticised by former ministers for leaving the country suddenly as Taliban forces entered Kabul.
It should be noted that Ghani left his country on Sunday night after the Taliban took control of the presidential palace in Afghan capital Kabul. He said he left Kabul on the advice of his security officials.
On Wednesday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed that the country welcomed Ghani and his family "on humanitarian grounds."
In a related context, the We For News reported that Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mohammad Zahir Agbar, has claimed that President Ashraf Ghani had “taken $169 million with him” when he fled Afghanistan.
Read more: Taliban declares general amnesty and urges Afghans to live their routine lives
Citing the Ozodi, the We For News reported Zahir Agbar said that Ghani should be arrested and the wealth of the Afghan nation be restored.
Speaking at a news conference in Dushanbe on Wednesday, Agbar called Ghani’s escape a “betrayal of the state and the nation” and claimed that he had “taken $169 million with him”.
Agbar said in an interview with Eurasianet: “Ashraf Ghani handed Afghanistan over to the Taliban. We had more than 350,000 equipped troops, experienced military personnel, and they did not fight the Taliban. And we saw this in part in the northern regions of Afghanistan that border Tajikistan. There are more than 20 districts there. And they went over to the Taliban without mounting any resistance.
“I think Ghani had a prior agreement with the Taliban. He already had a plan for betrayal in his head. He abandoned his supporters and betrayed the people of Afghanistan."
He added, “I don’t think that any government is going to put up with militants from their country being in Afghanistan and operating under the Taliban’s protection. Afghanistan should not be a country that poses a threat to the neighbouring countries.”
Agbar claimed, “what is more, if the Taliban offer haven to terrorist groups from neighbouring countries, what kind of border security can we talk about? There are many foreign terrorists among the Taliban at this time."
Source: news agencies
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