Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen has accused former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani of fleeing the country with "the money of the people". He has also blamed Ghani for the chaos that the country witnessed after the latter "made a mistake by abandoning the government" on August 15.
In an exclusive interview to Doha News, the spokesperson said: "If he has taken the money of the people of Afghanistan, it doesn't belong to him, the money should be returned. Why should he take the money of the people of Afghanistan for himself at the last moment?"
"He (Ghani) made a mistake by abandoning the government all of a sudden while we were waiting for a peaceful transfer of power and our forces were waiting at the gates of Kabul city. But he suddenly fled and abandoned everything and that created a vaccum of insecurity, plundering and shooting in the city, and despite that he took money which was the property and the assets of the people of Afghanistan with him," Suhail Shaheen added.
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For the unversed, it was reported that Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash. He wasn't able to fit all the money in so some of it was left lying on the tarmac, the report added.
However, Ghani later rubbished the report and said he did not take any money. He claimed that he was forced to leave the country with one set of traditional clothes, a vest, and sandals.
"Do not believe whoever tells you that your president sold you out and fled for his own advantage and to save his own life," Ghani said adding, "These accusations are baseless... and I strongly reject them," he said.
“I was moved out of Afghanistan in such a way that I didn’t even have the chance to take off my sandals and wear my shoes instead," he added.
Ghani further defended his decision to flee Kabul, saying that he went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to prevent bloodshed.
