INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
On the eve of the anniversary of the Islamic Emirate&s takeover of Kabul, Afghanistan&s former president on Sunday defended what he said was
a split-second decision to flee, saying he wanted to avoid the humiliation of surrender to the insurgents.Ashraf Ghani also told CNN that on
the morning of August 15, 2021, with the IEA at the gates of the Afghan capital, he was the last one at the presidential palace after his
He said the defense minister told him earlier that day that Kabul could not be defended, Associated Press reported.Ghani had previously
sought to justify his actions on the day Kabul fell but offered more details Sunday
He alleged that one of the cooks in the palace had been offered $100,000 to poison him and that he felt his immediate environment was no
longer safe.The reason I left was because I did not want to give the Taliban (IEA) and their supporters the pleasure of yet again
humiliating an Afghan president and making him sign over the legitimacy of the government,& he said
&I have never been afraid.Critics say Ghani&s sudden and secret departure August 15 left the city rudderless as United States and NATO
forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years.Ghani also denied persistent allegations that he
took tens of millions of dollars in cash with him as he and other officials fled in helicopters.In a report issued last week, a
congressional watchdog said it&s unlikely Ghani and his senior advisers transported that much cash on the escape helicopters, AP
reported.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 Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction,
which has tried to monitor the massive United States spending in the country over the years.The agency added, &It remains a strong
possibility that significant amounts of United States currency disappeared from Afghan government property in the chaos of the Taliban
(IEA) takeover, including millions from the presidential palace& and the vault of the National Directorate of Security
The report, however, said the watchdog was unable to determine how much money was stolen and by whom.In the end, the IEA seized the capital
without significant fighting last August, capping a weekslong military blitz in which they rapidly captured provincial capitals without much
resistance from the increasingly demoralized Afghan security forces.The post On eve of takeover anniversary, Ghani defends decision to flee
Afghanistan first appeared on Ariana News.
