'Did not take cash, left Kabul to prevent bloodshed': Afghan President Ashraf Ghani releases video, first since fleeing country

Dubai: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday defended his decision to flee Kabul in the face of the Taliban advance, describing it as the only way to prevent bloodshed. He also denied claims by his country’s ambassador to Tajikistan that he had stolen millions of dollars from state funds. Ghani posted a video on his Facebook page late on Wednesday, confirming that he was in the United Arab Emirates.

He thanked Afghan security forces in his message, but also said that the failure of the peace process led to the Taliban snatching power. He also indirectly tried to quash an accusation by Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tajikistan that he had stolen USD 169 million from state funds. He claimed that he was “forced to leave Afghanistan with one set of traditional clothes, a vest and the sandals I was wearing”. “Accusations were charged in these days that money was transferred, these accusations are fully baseless,” he said. Ghani left Afghanistan on Sunday just as the Taliban approached Kabul.