Former Afghan President Ghani: an escape from Kabul was necessary due to the threat of chaos
Ashraf Ghani. Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on BBC Radio 4's Today program that his escape from Kabul was necessary to prevent the destruction of the city. The words of the politician are quoted by the BBC Russian Service.
Ghani commented on the escape from Afghanistan for the first time. He said that when he woke up on the morning of August 15, he had no idea what was going on and came to his senses only on board a plane from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan. “Two different Taliban factions were advancing from two sides,” Ghani explained his escape. “There was a huge threat that a large-scale conflict would break out between them, which would lead to the destruction of the five-millionth city and plunge people's lives into chaos.”
He added that he did not take large sums of money out of the country. “Everyone knows how I live. What should I do with money? ” – said the ex-president.
Ghani also said that the reason for the fall of his government was an agreement between the Taliban (the Taliban is a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and former US President Donald Trump on the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. “Instead of a peace process, we got a retreat process,” he stressed.
As a result, according to the former head of state, there was a violent coup, not a political agreement. “My life's work has been destroyed. My values were trampled. And they made me the scapegoat, ”he said, specifying that he was ready to take responsibility for the fall of Kabul.
The Taliban announced that they were taking control of the entire Afghan territory on 15 August. Ghani left the country the same day, flying through Uzbekistan to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
