On the eve of the anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, Afghanistan’s former president on Sunday defended what he stated was a split-second determination to flee, saying he wished to keep away from the humiliation of give up to the insurgents.
Ashraf Ghani additionally informed CNN that on the morning of Aug. 15, 2021, with the Taliban on the gates of the Afghan capital, he was the final one on the presidential palace after his guards had disappeared. He stated the protection minister informed him earlier that day that Kabul couldn’t be defended.
Ghani had beforehand sought to justify his actions on the day Kabul fell, however provided extra particulars Sunday. He alleged that one of many cooks within the palace had been provided $100,000 to poison him and that he felt his fast setting was not protected.
“The reason I left was because I did not want to give the Taliban and their supporters the pleasure of yet again humiliating an Afghan president and making him sign over the legitimacy of the government,” he stated. “I have never been afraid.”
Critics say Ghani’s sudden and secret departure Aug. 15 left town rudderless as US and NATO forces had been within the ultimate phases of their chaotic withdrawal from the nation after 20 years.
Ghani additionally denied persistent allegations that he took tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in money with him as he and different officers fled in helicopters.In a report issued final week, a Congressional watchdog stated it’s unlikely Ghani and his senior advisers transported that a lot money on the escape helicopters.
“The hurried nature of their departure, the emphasis on passengers over cargo, the payload and performance limitations of the helicopters, and the consistent alignment in detailed accounts from witnesses on the ground and in the air all suggest that there was little more than $500,000 in cash on board the helicopters,” wrote the Workplace of the Particular Inspector Basic for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which has tried to observe the huge US spending within the nation through the years.
On this Aug. 15, 2021, file picture, Taliban fighters take management of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, after President Ashraf Ghani fled the nation. (AP Photograph/Zabi Karimi, File)
The company added that “it remains a strong possibility that significant amounts of US currency disappeared from Afghan government property in the chaos of the Taliban takeover, including millions from the presidential palace” and the vault of the Nationwide Directorate of Safety.
Nonetheless, the report stated the watchdog was unable to find out how a lot cash was stolen and by whom.
In the long run, the Taliban seized the capital with out vital preventing final August, capping a weeks-long navy blitz during which they quickly captured provincial capitals with out a lot resistance from the more and more demoralized Afghan safety forces.
Within the yr because the takeover, the previous insurgents have imposed vital restrictions on women and girls, limiting their entry to schooling and work, regardless of preliminary guarantees on the contrary. The Taliban have remained internationally remoted and largely lower off from the movement of worldwide assist loved by the Ghani authorities. The Taliban have struggled to manipulate and halt the sharp financial decline that has pushed hundreds of thousands extra Afghans into poverty and even starvation.
Regardless of these challenges, the Taliban-led authorities deliberate a number of occasions Monday to mark the anniversary, together with speeches by Taliban officers and a number of other sports activities occasions.
