President Ashraf Ghani Fled Kabul With Four Cars And Helicopter Full Of Cash: Report

New Delhi: President Ashraf Ghani’s plane, who left Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the presidential palace on Sunday, was stopped from landing in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe. Multiple reports suggest that fleeing Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani’s attempt is now to go to the US.

According to Russian state media, President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan, stuffed cash in his helicopter, but some of the money was left on the tarmac due to lack of space.

Russian Media Claim

Russian state news agency TASS, 72-year-old President Ghani fled Kabul with a helicopter full of cash. A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul was quoted as saying in the news, ”as for the collapse of the (outgoing) regime, it is most eloquently characterised by the way Ghani fled Afghanistan. Four cars were full of cash, they tried to stuff the money in the helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac.”

READ | Taliban’s Top Leaders To Reach Kabul, To Announce Mullah New Afghanistan President

Although TASS did not name the embassy employee, Russian wire service ‘Sputnik’ quoted Russian Embassy spokesman Nikita Ishchenko as saying that Ghani’s convoy included cash-laden cars while fleeing Kabul.

“They tried to stuff all the money in the helicopter, but the lack of space did not allow them to do so,” Ishchnko said. Some money was left on the tarmac,” as per Russian Embassy spokesman Nikita Ishchenko

Meanwhile, in his first statement after leaving Afghanistan, Ghani on a Facebook on Sunday wrote: “Today, I came across a hard choice; I should stand to face the armed Taliban who wanted to enter the palace or leave the dear country (Afghanistan) that I dedicated my life to protecting and protecting the past twenty years.” 

He added, “If there were still countless countrymen martyred and they would face destruction and destruction of Kabul city, the result would have been a big human disaster in this 6 million city. The Taliban have decided to remove me, they are here to attack all of Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out.”

“The Taliban have won the judgement of sword and guns and now they are responsible for protecting countrymen’s honour, wealth and self-esteem,” Ghani said.

Ghani, an academician and economist by profession, was the 14th President of Afghanistan. He first won the presidential elections on September 20, 2014, and the second time on September 28, 2019.