Ex-Afghan President Ghani ‘settled’ in Abu Dhabi: Report

Where is Ashraf Ghani? Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Kabul as the Taliban took over the country, is now settled on Abu Dhabi, a report said.

Kabul News reported quoting sources that Ghani is presently is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

CNN also reports that Afghanistan’s former leader Ashraf Ghani has been welcomed into the UAE on humanitarian grounds.

Earlier, reports claimed that Ghani has fled to neighbouring Tajikistan or Uzbekistan as the Taliban swiftly took control of Afghanistan in just couple of weeks the US forces started to pull out of the country after over 20 years. However, there was no confirmed information about Ghani’s location since August 15.

It was reported that Ghani had fled Afghanistan with loads of cash in a helicopter.

“Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac,” Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.

Ischenko confirmed his comments to a global news wire, citing “witnesses” as the source of his information, Al Jazeera reported.

Ashraf Ghani defends fleeing Afghanistan

Defending his stance to leave the country amid the turmoil, Ghani had in a Facebook post said he left Afghanistan to prevent more bloodshed.

“The Taliban had made it to a point remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out,” Ghani said.