According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ashraf Ghani told him the night before he fled that he would “fight until his last breath.”
As the Western-backed government collapsed and hundreds of thousands of government troops were overrun by the Taliban, who took over Kabul on August 15, ex-President Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates.
“Did you assist President Ghani in fleeing the country?” Lotfullah Najafizada, a Tolo journalist, inquired.
In a tweet, the news outlet shared a video of his response.
“What he (Ghani) told me in that conversation the night before he fled was that he was prepared to fight to the death,” Mr Blinken explained.
Mr Ghani issued a statement today apologising to the Afghan people for his departure and stating that he followed the advice of palace security.
“I owe the Afghan people an explanation for abruptly leaving Kabul on August 15 after Taliban unexpectedly entered the city,” he wrote, adding that he had been warned that staying would risk triggering the “horrific street-to-street fighting” that Kabul had experienced during the 1990s civil war.
He described his decision to leave Kabul as the most difficult of his life, but he insisted that it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and its citizens. He also denied allegations that he stole millions of dollars.
