Afghanistan: Ghani defends decision to flee

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani defended his decision to flee the country as the Taliban were advancing towards Kabul. In a statement and after confirmation from the UAE that they have granted him asylum, Ghani repeated the reason for his departure and that was to avoid “bloodshed.”

Russia had claimed that Ghani took off with two cars and a helicopter full of cash and some Afghan officials from the Tajikistan assembly claimed he had fled with $169m. Ghani has now denied the accusations and said he wasn’t even able to change his shoes before leaving.

Elaborating further on why he left, Ghani said his life was in danger and he was made to leave the country by the security officials as he would have been killed.